[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 136 (Wednesday, September 14, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5592-S5593]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            DISASTER RELIEF

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Madam President, over the past 2 weeks, I have 
traveled the State of Connecticut, as the Presiding Officer has done in 
the State of New York, and she has described eloquently the damage she 
has seen in her State. I have seen much the same in mine. I have seen 
the destruction of small businesses, of homes; rivers swelling, 
flooding of historic dimensions causing significant destruction; the 
wind and rain striking Connecticut with a fury, its ferocity virtually 
unmatched in recent memory.
  I met with families and community leaders, farmers and small 
businesses, about the help they will need to rebuild their homes and 
their businesses and their lives and their livelihoods. It is a 
powerful and moving struggle. The citizens of Connecticut, similar to 
the citizens of New York and others struck by this storm, have acted 
with determination and resolve, not with desperation or despair. They 
are determined and dedicated to rebuild and recover from this storm, 
but they need the help that is provided by FEMA. We are here, hopefully 
in a bipartisan effort, to make sure these communities and others like 
them throughout the Northeast and throughout the United States have the 
help and the real consequential aid they need to make this recovery in 
rebuilding their lives.
  The early estimates suggest that the damage caused by Irene could 
reach more than $10 billion, making it one of the 10 costliest 
disasters in U.S. history. The suffering and real sadness of 
Connecticut citizens gives us a bond and a cause in common with 
millions of other Americans who have suffered from hurricanes, 
tornadoes, floods, and other natural disasters across the country. This 
year alone, we have seen flooding on the Mississippi and Missouri 
Rivers and other rivers in the Midwest, devastating tornadoes in the 
South, wildfires in the South and West, and now Hurricane Irene and 
Tropical Storm Lee.
  In times of natural disaster, Americans come together. In times when 
they face crises, Americans rally as neighbors, as a community. 
Regardless of specific States where they live, they come together to 
rebuild their homes, to make common cause, to recognize our bonds as a 
nation. The spirit of our Nation is that we put people above politics 
every time, without exception; that we provide disaster relief for 
victims, such as Connecticut residents now, and with the resources they 
need to rebuild.
  Currently, FEMA is funding disaster relief for over 550 disasters, 
including 29 in Oklahoma, 21 in Kentucky, 17 in Texas, 19 in 
Mississippi, and 18 in Kansas. Yet 2 weeks ago, House majority leader 
Eric Cantor stated that relief funds for Hurricane Irene would need to 
be offset by savings found elsewhere in the Federal budget. I reject 
that contention and so should this body and my colleagues from those 
States I have just named and all the other States in the Union. In 
fact, all but a handful or less have received and are receiving 
disaster relief just since January of this year.
  We need to do everything we can to put Connecticut and America back 
to work, to make sure our economy moves forward again, to create jobs, 
and to reduce the deficit. Yes, we need to reduce the deficit and the 
debt and cut unnecessary and wasteful spending. However, we cannot 
permit Washington politics to create a legislative logjam and gridlock 
that bogs down these efforts for disaster relief. The need is too 
urgent for thousands of families and businesses in Connecticut and 
around the country that have been devastated by these unprecedented 
floods and other natural disasters, such as hurricanes, wildfires, 
floods, and tornadoes.
  Turning disaster assistance into a political football is unacceptable 
and unconscionable. It is a recipe for gridlock and it is just plain 
wrong. It is wrong and a disservice to the men and women whose homes 
and businesses have been hit by the forces of nature that are 
unpredictable and unpreventable. Now they are attempting to rebuild 
their lives, and we owe it to them to match their courage and 
resilience with efforts from FEMA.
  We can't prevent those hurricanes or tornadoes or wildfires, but we 
can step forward when these disasters occur and lend a hand to our 
neighbors, as we have done throughout our history, and we can provide 
these communities with the real resources they need to recover, without 
distinguishing between what State or what part of the country.
  There is one story from Connecticut which I think tells a lot about 
the choices we face right now. Mel Goldstein and his wife Arlene, whose 
home was completely destroyed by flooding caused by Hurricane Irene, 
are being told their homeowners insurance will not cover the damage. 
Their only hope of recovery is FEMA flood insurance and other FEMA 
assistance. Right now, they are using their savings to stay in a hotel 
while they rebuild their lives. Mel is one of the best known weathermen 
in the State of Connecticut. He is an icon in the broadcasting world 
and a hero to many of us for his struggle against cancer. His treatment 
in this unstable environment at this point in his recovery adds an 
unnecessary toll and stress to their lives. As we have in the past, we 
must come together to help folks such as Arlene and Mel Goldstein move 
on after the unthinkable happens in their lives. The unthinkable 
happened to them and to many of their neighbors in East Haven along the 
shores of Connecticut.
  I have heard their voices and seen their faces throughout our State, 
in communities big and small, where flooding has put a small business 
out of business and where homes have been destroyed and people are 
living in shelters or with their neighbors or were for awhile. These 
kinds of human stories are part of the fabric of the larger story we 
need to recognize. I hope my colleagues will come together, as we did 
on the vote yesterday, to approve this measure. The vote yesterday 
signaled perhaps a return to the bipartisanship that should prevail 
when the Nation confronts crisis and disaster. Our No. 1 goal, which 
should be a bipartisan goal, must be to deliver help to our fellow 
Americans as quickly as possible.

[[Page S5593]]

  Thank you. I yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Blumenthal). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm 
Lee left a trail of devastation across New York State. I saw firsthand 
the impact they left on our communities: hundreds of families living in 
shelters, complete homes destroyed, belongings piled up on people's 
front yards, small businesses uncertain whether they would even reopen 
and worrying about whether they could hire back their employees, farms 
that had no feed for livestock for days, crops and livelihoods 
vanishing without any trace in a single day, crumbling bridges, washed-
out roads, heating oil soaking into buildings and the ground. I was 
born and raised in upstate New York, and I can say we have never seen 
this kind of devastation--certainly not in my lifetime.
  America has always stood by those who have suffered greatly from 
disaster and we have always helped them to rebuild. We have an 
obligation to these families, businesses, and farmers to help them 
rebuild today.
  This picture is of downtown Binghamton. I met with hundreds of 
families displaced and placed in a Red Cross shelter at the University 
of Binghamton. They were on day four at the shelter, unclear if they 
would be able to see what was left of their homes.
  I can't fully describe the worry and fear in the eyes of parents who 
are in a shelter with their children. I talked to one mother who has 10 
children, the youngest of whom was 2 years old, trying desperately to 
keep them fed, keep them safe but literally having no sense of when she 
could return to her home and what it would look like when she returned.
  I talked to one father whose daughter turned 13 years old that day in 
the shelter and his worry was mostly: I don't know what is in front of 
us. I don't know when we will be able to go home. I don't know how much 
has been destroyed, and I don't know how I will rebuild.
  One parent I talked to was a young mother. She held a 6-week-old 
infant in her arms, and she said to me: I have everything I need right 
here. That exemplified the courage of Americans when they fight through 
suffering--the strength of New Yorkers that they will pull themselves 
up by their own bootstraps and make the difference. But we in 
Washington must help.
  In Schoharie County, on the main street of the villages of both 
Schoharie and Middleburgh, every single home was flooded. The water 
mark was at about 7 feet. As you drive down the main street and begin 
to talk to the business owners and the families, you can see there was 
not one left untouched. Every piece of these families' belongings is 
literally on the front lawns of these homes and businesses.
  But I watched these business owners begin to rebuild. I could see 
them literally bringing the mud from the basements, bringing the mud 
from their ground floors, pulling down all the drywall because 
obviously the damage was so great it would cause long-lasting damage. 
People are very worried about how they can make sure their business is 
safe.
  This is just a snapshot right here in this picture of the town of 
Middleburgh. This is the farming community within Schoharie County. 
These farmers have lost everything. I can tell you, the water was so 
strong, the surge was so great, it literally took trees out of the 
ground, completely uprooted and overturned. The crops that we could see 
on this farm--they were so covered with silt from the river, we could 
not even recognize what kind of crops they were. I saw potatoes that 
had been uprooted from the ground all over the road. That farmer could 
salvage nothing of their farm.
  We had one farmer who came down to meet with me because her cows were 
stranded. They had 800 cows stuck because the roads had been completely 
washed out. They had no way to get feed up to those cows. They had no 
way to deal with manure and dump all the milk that had to be destroyed. 
They needed a rescue effort. Because of the efforts of our Governor--he 
reacted quickly--our National Guard got up there, got food and water up 
to those farmers, they fixed the road, and the feed was delivered. But 
this is the kind of reaction we need from government. This is why the 
Federal Government must be there to help and protect these families and 
businesses.
  Our next picture is of Greene County. In Greene County, waters rushed 
down the main street of Windham--this is a picture of Windham--and 
destroyed all businesses in its wake. The homes of families were also 
destroyed. There was absolute destruction throughout Greene County.
  I talked to just one business owner, and she had a business for 
children's clothing, children's needs, children's toys. She had just a 
couple employees, but she said: I have nothing to rebuild. I have no 
way that I can rebuild my business. I don't think I could rehire those 
employees.
  So there is the feeling of hopelessness and worry and dread and 
concern on top of a very tough economy anyway. These are the businesses 
and families and farmers we need to help because we need them to 
rebuild. We need them to have the ability to rehire those employees, to 
produce food for our families, to make sure we have thriving 
communities once again.
  The last picture I wish to show is of Keene, up in the North Country. 
In Keene, the river rose 22 feet above the flood stage, washing out 
roads and bridges, and it left much of the town actually stranded for 
days. Half the town's firehouse was ripped apart and swept away by the 
river. Up in the High Peaks, the rain came down so hard it brought huge 
chunks of the mountainside with it, creating slides that have changed 
the face of the Adirondacks for generations.
  As you can see, this is just four communities. Throughout New York 
State--the North Country, the Capital Region, the Mohawk Valley, the 
Hudson Valley, the Southern Tier, and Long Island--no one can question 
the absolute devastation that these storms have left in our 
communities. We must stand with them in their greatest time of need.
  Federal assistance is essential to help these families, these 
farmers, these businesses, and communities not only recover but rebuild 
and be stronger than they were before.
  We need immediate funding for FEMA and the USDA disaster assistance 
to provide relief for these communities all across New York and for all 
the other States that were affected by these storms.

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