[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 136 (Wednesday, September 14, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5587-S5588]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              FEMA VICTIMS

  Mr. REID. Madam President, the House sent us a package, and I 
appreciate that very much. It funds the highway bill for 6 months, and 
it funds the FEMA bill for 4 months. That is terrific. We should move 
to this as quickly as we can; however, we are told it is going to be 
held up by the Republicans. If someone wants to have a vote on an 
amendment as it relates to this, I will be happy to discuss this with 
the Republican leader and see if we can work something out. In the 
instance I am talking about, however, the Senator said he doesn't want 
to vote; he just wants to hold up the bill. He said if we put in what 
we got from the House and stuck his provision in that, then he would be 
happy. Well, I guess anyone would. It is a pretty good way to legislate 
around here--just be a dictator and say: Either take this or leave it. 
That isn't the way things work around here. We have to have votes on 
issues to find out how people feel.
  I am convinced his issue would lose overwhelmingly, but he is holding 
up this legislation, and we are in a position now legislatively that I 
can't get to this bill. We cannot get to this bill prior to Friday, 
when the FAA expires. So it is unfortunate that is the position we are 
in. One Senator is holding this up, and what it will do is--the highway 
bill does not expire on Friday; FAA does. But they are a package. If 
this continues, we will have about 80,000 people out of work by 
Saturday, 4,000 who work for the FAA and about 70,000 or 75,000 who are 
working on airport construction jobs. In Las Vegas, for example, there 
is a new tower being built because of McCarran Field being 
overwhelmed--the old tower can't handle things well--and those people 
will be laid off. That is the way it is all over the country. That is 
very unfortunate.
  I really appreciate, Madam President, and I have tried to say 
individually--I have been to each Republican Senator--the Senators who 
have voted to help us move forward on funding for FEMA, I really 
appreciate it. As you know, we have a majority, but it is not a huge 
majority, and to get things done on issues that are specialized, we 
need seven Republicans, and we have eight Republicans in this instance 
who helped us pass this legislation. All the Democratic Senators voted 
for this, and we got those Republicans. This allows us now to fund 
FEMA.
  I have told my friends on the Republican side of the aisle, if it is 
something that--if they want to change the

[[Page S5588]]

numbers around, let's have a discussion on that. But right now, people 
are desperate.
  Last night around 6 or 6:30, I spoke to the man who is in charge of 
FEMA, and he said we are spending money every day on Lee and on Irene. 
These are not a couple of women; one is a tropical storm, and the other 
is a hurricane. They are not spending money other places. Why? Because 
they don't have the money.
  As the Presiding Officer knows, there are people in her State who 
have lost their homes. This is all up and down the coast, from the 
coast of Florida up to Maine, and even places inward. As we talked 
about yesterday, some of the very severe damage was not on the 
coastline but, for example, in the State of Vermont, the worst storm 
likely they have ever had, and those people are trying to get from one 
place to the next, but they have scores of bridges that are inoperable. 
And that money--what money they have left in FEMA--will run out I think 
he said on the 25th. If things keep going the way they are, on the 25th 
of this month, they will be out of money--no money.
  So we need to get this done. Procedurally, we are on this, and I 
can't move to the highway bill and the FAA bill. And, I repeat, the FAA 
bill expires. So I hope we can have something worked out with this 
Senator so we can get this bill done.
  The disasters facing this country are untoward. Forty-eight States 
have already had emergency declarations. Some States have had multiple 
emergency declarations. Only two States--West Virginia and Michigan--
have not had emergency declarations. We have had in the State of Texas, 
as an example, 20,000 fires since the first of the year; on Sunday 
alone, 19 fires. Millions of acres have burned, and 2,000 homes have 
burned to the ground. That is what FEMA is all about.
  FEMA is an organization that is relatively new, but as a country we 
have been helping people who have experienced disasters since we have 
been a country.
  In the early 1800s, there was a big fire in the State of New 
Hampshire. I believe the date was 1813. The Federal Government stepped 
in to help with the rebuilding there. That is the way it should be. 
That is what our country is all about. I am sorry, Madam President, it 
was 1803. In 1803, the Federal Government played a role in rebuilding 
after a calamity in New Hampshire. Congress passed legislation that 
year to help New Hampshire recover from the devastating fire they had.
  FEMA was established in 1979. To this point, it appears this could 
very likely be the worst disaster year in the history of the country. 
Irene alone is one of the five worst disasters monetarily we have had 
in this country.
  So I hope my Republican colleagues will work with us and help us move 
these things along. It is important that we do that. It is important 
that we do that as quickly as we can so that people in Joplin, MO, and 
other places in the country that have been devastated can receive the 
help they deserve from the Federal Government.

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