[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 163 (Tuesday, December 18, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8111-S8113]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTES TO DEPARTING SENATORS


                             Olympia Snowe

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I come to the floor now to bid farewell to 
one of the Senate's most respected Members, Senator Olympia Snowe from 
the great State of Maine. She chose to retire this year after a 
distinguished career in public service spanning nearly four decades, 
first in the Maine Legislature, 6 years in the U.S. House, and the last 
18 years here in the U.S. Senate.
  Throughout this remarkable career, she has been respected for her 
independence, always putting her values and country ahead of party and 
partisanship. She can, of course, be a very persuasive advocate for the 
conservative causes she holds dear, but, as we all know and appreciate, 
she is willing to buck party loyalty when she believes it is in error 
or when she believes in what is better for our country. And our future 
depends on bipartisanship. I cite, for example, when she voted in favor 
of the Recovery Act and the Dodd-Frank reform of Wall Street.
  I especially admire Senator Snowe's talent for reaching across the 
aisle and building bridges in order to get things done. On that score, 
she has represented the United States and her State of Maine at her 
very best, and that is just one of the many reasons why we are sad that 
she has chosen, voluntarily, to retire.
  Olympia Snowe has been a wonderful colleague and friend, always 
congenial, always willing to listen, always willing to examine 
different sides of an issue. What more could we ask of any U.S. 
Senator? We have been fortunate to have had a Senator of her high 
caliber, intelligence, and character in this body for the last 18 
years. I join with the entire Senate family in wishing her and John the 
very best in the years ahead.


                             Jeff Bingaman

  Mr. President, in these closing days of the 112th Congress, the 
Senate is saying farewell to one of our most popular and respected 
Members, Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico.
  When Jeff came to this body 30 years ago, he had already led a life 
of accomplishment. Raised in smalltown New Mexico, Silver City, he was 
an Eagle Scout. He graduated from Harvard College and Stanford Law 
School, where he met his future wife Anne. While at Stanford, he worked 
on Senator Robert F. Kennedy's campaign for President. At the age of 
35, he was elected New Mexico attorney general in 1978. Four years 
later, at the age of 39, he was elected to the U.S. Senate.
  During his three decades in this body, Jeff Bingaman has been a 
classic workhorse Senator as opposed to being a show horse Senator. He 
is truly remarkable and distinctive among Senators for his willingness 
to shun the limelight and share the credit in order to get important 
work done for his State and for his country.
  Senator Bingaman has been a much-valued colleague of mine on the 
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, but he has really made 
his mark in the Senate--a lasting mark--in his role as chair of the 
Energy and Natural Resources Committee. As chair and also at times 
ranking member of that committee, he has played a leading role in 
shaping energy policy for our Nation, authoring bipartisan legislation 
promoting a balanced energy portfolio encompassing all energy sources.
  Senator Bingaman worked closely with his New Mexico colleague, 
Senator Pete Domenici, to pass the landmark 2005 Energy Policy Act, 
signed into law by President George W. Bush. This was signed, I might 
add, appropriately at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM. 
That comprehensive law established groundbreaking policies on many 
fronts, including a renewable fuels standard for biofuels, support for 
alternative vehicles, loan guarantees for new energy technologies that 
reduce greenhouse gases, establishing policies to upgrade the 
electrical grid, plus a whole range of measures to promote energy 
efficiency.
  In 2007 he again collaborated with Senator Domenici in securing 
passage of the Energy Independence and Security Act. This act included 
an ambitious increase in vehicle fuel efficiency standards--from 25 
miles per gallon to 35 miles per gallon by the year 2020--as well as 
significantly greater commitments to the use of biofuels. These two 
provisions are largely responsible for the significant decrease in oil 
imports that we have seen over the past several years.
  More broadly, Senator Bingaman has played a critical role in ensuring 
the vitality of America's energy research and development community, 
championing energy programs at all levels, including universities, 
national laboratories, and in private industry.
  I can't close without mentioning a great living legacy of the Senator 
from

[[Page S8112]]

New Mexico: his 2009 public lands management bill that set aside more 
than 2 million acres in nine States as protected wilderness, including 
a 5,300-acre national monument to protect Paleozoic fossils located 
north of Los Cruces, NM. I can say that Senator Bingaman stands in line 
with those great heroes of America who set aside public lands for all 
future generations, people such as Theodore Roosevelt and others. 
Senator Bingaman takes his rightful place there.
  For the last three decades in this body, Senator Bingaman has been a 
tireless advocate for the people of New Mexico and a determined 
champion of the future of clean and renewable energy for the United 
States. He has been an outstanding Senator and a wonderful friend. I 
join with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in wishing Jeff and 
Anne the very best in the years ahead.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. 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. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues on 
both sides of the aisle to support our efforts to come to the relief of 
millions of Americans who are suffering in the wake of Superstorm 
Sandy.
  I thank my fellow Senators from the Northeast, especially Senators 
Lautenberg and Menendez, as well as my colleague, Senator Schumer, for 
all their leadership. Senator Schumer and I have been working in unison 
with many of our colleagues. We have been testifying at hearings and 
talking to our other colleagues since the storm hit.
  I also give special thanks to Senator Landrieu, who, because her 
State has suffered so much, has had not only deep experience in 
advocating for families who are suffering but she has demonstrated 
extraordinary leadership in bringing together a bill that can begin to 
meet some of those needs.
  I also thank Senator Boxer for holding a hearing in the Environment 
and Public Works Committee. That hearing allowed all of the Senators to 
speak on behalf of their States, the members of our delegations, to 
bear witness to what actually took place.
  Superstorm Sandy was a storm unlike anything we had ever seen in the 
Northeast before. The sheer magnitude and force struck the most densely 
populated parts of the region. As you can see here on this chart, the 
purple is where the storm hit hardest, then the red and on to the 
yellow. In Sandy's wake, more than 40 New Yorkers lost their lives and 
hundreds of thousands more have lost their homes or seen significant 
damage to their neighborhoods and their businesses, and their families 
are currently still suffering.
  I wish to share just one story that indicates the depth of the 
challenge these families are facing.
  This one man, whose name is Pedro Correa, is from Staten Island. 
Pedro is a lifelong New Yorker. When he saw the Twin Towers fall on 9/
11, he answered the call of duty. He has been to Iraq and served our 
country. Since returning home to his family, he has continued to serve 
in public service. He and his wife are raising two kids, ages 2 and 6, 
in their Oakwood Beach home. As Sandy approached, Pedro was very smart. 
He got his family and children out to higher ground and a safer place. 
Unfortunately, he stayed. The brutal winds hit his home and his 
community so hard--winds of unbelievable force--that it blew his roof 
off and collapsed the structure of his house, allowing floodwaters in. 
With the rising water, he literally felt his life was at risk. He 
called his wife and kids to say goodbye, but he was a strong man and he 
endured. He actually was able to fight the storm waters and swam to 
safety to a neighbor's house.
  One might think that was going to be the worst for Pedro and his 
family, but it is not. It is actually not. His house was completely 
destroyed. And as he has begun his effort to rebuild, he has found 
roadblock after roadblock, challenge after challenge, and a great deal 
of difficulty in that small effort of beginning to rebuild. He called 
his insurance company and discovered his insurance is capped at half 
the value of his home. He called FEMA, and FEMA offered him $2,800.
  This is a man any of us would be proud to call our own son. He lived 
through 9/11, he went to fight for our country, and he continues public 
service. Now he is literally in the fight for his own life and for his 
own family's well-being and safety. His only choice currently is 
bankruptcy.
  Americans watching us might ask: Are we going to come together to 
help these families? Will we stand as one body and do the right thing 
by these families, these communities, these businesses that are just 
trying to get back on their feet? One thing is clear: There are too 
many of these stories for any of us to bear.
  After spending time in the communities that were hardest hit--from 
New York City to the Hudson Valley to Long Island--I can tell you the 
images of the devastation are worse than any I have personally ever 
witnessed. I spent day after day meeting with families whose lives have 
been shattered, homes destroyed, such as this one. Many of them are 
worried because, obviously, as winter sets in, they do not think they 
can return to their homes. How will they get their kids back in school? 
How will they rebuild their lives?
  But amid all this destruction, one story continues to emerge: 
neighbors helping neighbors, and unbelievable acts of generosity and 
kindness. I have met volunteers from every State in this country who 
came to help Sandy's victims--young kids who want to do their part. I 
met a bunch of kids--veterans--who had already served in Iraq and 
Afghanistan who were there just to help people clean out their 
basements. They put on some gloves and work boots and they shoveled out 
basements for days and days.
  I met one gentleman who, as with this house, had a boat in the middle 
of his restaurant. He said to me: Kirsten, we will rebuild and we will 
rebuild better. And we agreed we would have dinner at that restaurant a 
year from now. So that resolve, that determination to rebuild, is 
something that is never in short supply in New York. We New Yorkers are 
very tough. We can get knocked down, but every single time we will get 
up. We may be forced to bend, but we will not break. But we can't do it 
alone. We need the rest of this body, the rest of Congress, to come to 
our support.
  I know there has been a lot of discussion, and I have been involved 
in some with my colleagues, over the past few days about the bill, that 
we are moving too quickly, that it costs too much. But please, for a 
moment, think of devastation in your own States, think of talking to a 
family with children with no place to go. Imagine what it would be like 
to be without a home, particularly during these holidays. Families need 
just a small amount of support to begin to rebuild.
  In New York, because of where the storm hit, a lot of our 
infrastructure was damaged, and a lot of these projects are extremely 
expensive. But these projects are emergency spending. This is major 
transportation infrastructure, such as the Brooklyn Battery tunnel. 
This is the subway, but the Brooklyn Battery tunnel alone would take 
$700 million to rebuild. So when we are talking about a bill and that 
we could fund a little today and fund the rest tomorrow, that is not 
how business works. It is not how a contract works. You either contract 
to rebuild the tunnel or you don't. You either make the changes to 
rebuild it or you don't. You voluntarily, to retire. can't say: We will 
put down a little now. No State or city can operate that way. If you 
don't know the funds are there in advance, you can't start to rebuild.
  The same is true for our houses. We have estimates that there is $10 
billion worth of damage to these homes. If you say, we will give a 
little now, how is that homeowner going to know if they are even going 
to be able to rebuild if no one is there to help them?
  We have always funded disaster projects when they are needed. We have 
not asked for offsets, we have not asked for them to be paid for in 
advance. That is what a disaster is. That is what disaster funding is 
about. So I think it is important we look to New York and say: We will 
be there for you. We will stand with you. New York has

[[Page S8113]]

stood by every other State, every other region in the country when they 
have had disasters come to their doorsteps.
  Another concern my colleagues have brought up is this issue of what 
portion of the bill is for future prevention. We call it mitigation. 
The reality is, if you are going to rebuild a subway such as this, and 
you don't do it in a way that protects against flooding the next time, 
then you are wasting your money. Mitigation is attached to each and 
every project it is going to be used for, so when we fix the tunnel, 
when we fix the subway, when we fix any part of our city, it will be 
done in a way that is smart and not blind to future risks.
  Some have also asked the question about Army Corps of Engineers 
projects. For those who are not familiar with Washington speak, the 
Army Corps of Engineers funds a lot of projects related to our coastal 
shorelines or to any kind of waterway. They do the engineering required 
and then the work that has to be done to make sure a beach isn't 
vulnerable after a massive storm, such as the ones we have seen. 
Because of Sandy, much of the Army Corps's infrastructure that provided 
this critical protection was washed away or significantly damaged, 
leaving a lot of our shoreline exposed. So even if a minor storm hits, 
lives will be at risk.
  When we look at the history of Hurricane Katrina, Congress and the 
Bush administration immediately provided the Army Corps with $3.3 
billion for repair and mitigation with no offsets. Even funds 
appropriated in 2008 for the gulf coast hurricanes, 3 years after the 
storms hit, were designated as disaster and emergency funding. In fact, 
since 1989, Congress has passed 36 emergency appropriations for 
disasters without any specifically dedicated outside offsets.
  It has been 50 days since Superstorm Sandy hit our shores. We need to 
act swiftly. When Hurricane Katrina battered the gulf coast, the 
Members of this body and the House united. We passed two emergency 
spending relief bills worth $60 billion within 10 days. Congress did 
the same for Hurricane Andrew, and within weeks of the Twin Towers 
falling on 9/11. I know the Members of this body can come together. 
When disaster strikes, we always find a way to do the right thing. It 
is time to do the same today.
  It is the fundamental role of government to protect people, to help 
rebuild communities when disaster strikes. When so many lives have been 
destroyed and so many communities lie in rubble, when businesses don't 
know how to begin to rebuild, that is when we have to stand strong and 
we have to come together.
  No doubt we have serious challenges ahead of us, but none of us was 
sent here to Congress to do what is easy. We serve to do what is right, 
especially when it is hard, especially when families are counting on 
us. So I ask my colleagues to find good will, to open their hearts and 
stand by those families who have suffered so much in the Northeast.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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