[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 164 (Wednesday, December 19, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S8204]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mrs. Gillibrand and Mr. Lautenberg):
  S. 3691. A bill to minimize the economic and social costs resulting 
from losses of life, property, well-being, business activity, and 
economic growth associated with extreme weather events by ensuring that 
the United States is more resilient to the impacts of extreme weather 
events in the short- and long-term, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today I am introducing the STRONG Act of 
2012, or the Strengthening The Resilience of Our National on the Ground 
Act. This legislation will build upon existing extreme weather 
resiliency efforts to provide State and local actors with the tools and 
information they need to help prepare, plan for, and more quickly 
recover from extreme weather events. Hurricane Sandy has shown us that 
extreme weather remains a major challenge for our Nation.
  Recently, extreme weather events have battered the nation, resulting 
in record-high losses for 2011 and more broken records in 2012. In the 
past 30 years, there have been more than 130 extreme weather events in 
the United States that generated at least $1 billion in devastating 
damages. Most recently, Hurricane Sandy resulted in more than 100 
deaths, the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people, power 
outages affecting more than 8.5 million homes, massive flooding, 
gasoline shortages, and a crippled regional energy and transportation 
infrastructure. Extreme weather ravaged every region of the United 
States this year, with drought conditions in more than 60 percent of 
the contiguous United States; deadly floods; destructive wildfires on 
more than nine million acres across 37 States; and deadly heat waves.
  By building stronger communities, we can reduce the serious economic 
and human costs of extreme weather over the short and long term. For 
every $1 spent now on disaster preparedness and resilience-building, we 
could avoid at least $4 in future losses. We need to make our Nation 
stronger and more resilient against extreme weather or face an 
increasingly more expensive and deadly future.
  The STRONG Act of 2012 will use existing Federal resources to help 
reduce future losses of life, property, and well-being. It will also 
help limit declines in regional economic growth due to disasters. 
Specifically, it directs the Federal Government to create a more 
comprehensive approach to planning for and supporting resiliency 
efforts due to extreme weather. The bill directs the White House Office 
of Science and Technology Policy to chair a high-level interagency 
working group to assess Federal agencies' activities related to extreme 
weather resilience across key sectors, such as agriculture, water 
management, infrastructure, public health, and national security. It 
develops a plan to better support State, local, and private and public 
sector resiliency efforts in the short and long-term, including 
establishing a public clearinghouse of information. The bill emphasizes 
State, local, and private sector involvement; a Federal advisory group 
composed of private and public representatives will play a key 
consultative role throughout the process, as will an advisory group 
composed of State, local, and tribal representatives. It also 
complements and builds upon recent activities by my colleagues and the 
White House in the Federal response to the devastation of Hurricane 
Sandy.
  I believe that by better understanding and planning, we can reduce 
the serious economic and human costs of extreme weather on our 
communities. The events of 2012 and years past have clearly 
demonstrated the need for better and more efficient governance before 
disaster strikes again.
  A number of organizations are supportive of this bill, including the 
U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties, the 
National Emergency Management Association, the National Weather 
Association, and the American Planning Association.
  I am pleased that Senators Gillibrand and Lautenberg are original 
cosponsors of this legislation. I look forward to building upon a 
strong foundation and improving our extreme weather resiliency efforts. 
It is our responsibility to protect our citizens and help minimize 
future loss and damage. I ask all Senators to support this legislation.
                                 ______