[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 2 (Friday, January 4, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S19-S20]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HELPING THE VICTIMS OF HURRICANE SANDY

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I rise in support of the legislation we 
are about to vote on that will provide an additional $9.7 billion to 
the National Flood Insurance Program. Without these funds, the program 
would have run out of money next week, leaving over 100,000 victims of 
Hurricane Sandy in the lurch.
  I would like to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for 
allowing this vote to go forward. They have acted honorably. The good 
news is the House passed this bill this morning and the Senate will 
pass it in a few minutes.
  With the passage of this bill, hurricane victims from Staten Island 
to east Long Island, as well as in New Jersey, can rest assured their 
flood insurance will have enough money to pay out claims. We had no 
choice but to pass this provision because the Federal Government is 
obligated to reimburse when people have floods if they have paid in 
their flood insurance.
  While this bill is important, it is something we were almost 
obligated to do, and we should not have parades down the street because 
this bill has passed.
  The major work of helping the victims of Sandy is still ahead of us. 
The bad news is we even had to go through this dog-and-pony show in the 
first place.
  Last month, the Senate passed a good, strong bill to help all victims 
of Hurricane Sandy, and the House simply could have taken it up and 
passed it. In fact, they promised to vote on a similar provision before 
the last Congress ended.
  Unfortunately, this changed at the last moment. We do not need to get 
into the whys right now; we just want it to happen, and we are worried 
the second major portion of this relief bill will not get through the 
House in the form it should.
  We need the House to pass not only the $9 billion they passed this 
morning but the $51 billion that contains the

[[Page S20]]

bulk of the aid people need, without which we will not be able to 
recover. To be a bride and left at the altar once is bad enough. To be 
left twice would be unconscionable.
  As I said, this is a good step that we are going to pass this $9 
billion flood insurance bill. This is a good but small first step. It 
is a small downpayment on the much larger amount of aid we need to get 
through Congress.
  Let me tell you what is not in this bill. What is not in this bill is 
help for every homeowner who does not have flood insurance and lost 
their home or suffered major damage.
  Homeowners are waiting for Congress to pass relief the way we did for 
Irene and Katrina and so many other disasters so they can get a 
contractor to sign a contract, get a bank to make a loan until they 
know that the Federal Government will be there to reimburse, as it 
always has in the past.
  What is not in this bill is aid to small businesses, small 
businesspeople who are hanging by their fingernails, who might not be 
able to restart their businesses unless there is Federal aid, which was 
already in the Senate bill. Unless it comes back from the House and we 
are able to pass it in the Senate, they will be hurt.
  What is not in this bill is dollars to rebuild our highways and, most 
importantly, our mass transit systems that were flood, damaged. The MTA 
alone has taken out a $5 billion loan, but it will be in real financial 
jeopardy unless it is assured that it will be reimbursed for all the 
damage that Sandy caused to our railroads and our tunnels and our mass 
transit system--our amazing mass transit system that brings 3\1/2\ 
million people off and on Manhattan Island every single day.
  What is not in this bill is help to bring the electricity system back 
up to snuff so there will not be major blackouts, so people can be 
assured of their electricity.
  What is not in this bill is help for all of the communities that laid 
out hundreds of millions and billions of dollars for the cleanup. Their 
taxpayers will foot the bill unless Congress does what it has always 
done: step to the plate when a major disaster occurs and have the 
Federal Government help the locality. There has been a wisdom for 100 
years that when an area is afflicted by a disaster, we unite as a 
nation and come together and help that part of the country whether it 
is New Mexico or California or Louisiana or Florida or Missouri or 
North Dakota or New York or New Jersey.
  This bill is a first step to deal with flood insurance. It is the 
easiest part. The hard stuff is still ahead of us. We await the House 
returning in a week and a half, and we hope and expect, in fact, that 
they will vote the full $51 billion remainder. We hope and expect, in 
fact, that they will not put in legislative language that prevents 
money from getting to homeowners and communities that need it 
desperately right away.
  The draft we have seen contains some major changes from the Senate 
bill that would make it very difficult for NIH, the Army Corps, and 
other parts of the government to spend the dollars that are needed 
efficiently and quickly and to place them where they go. We beseech the 
House to finish its business, to finish the major part of its business, 
and approve the $51 billion that will make up the rest of the $60.
  We beseech them not to hamstring the local homeowners and businesses 
and governments with language that would prevent recovery. We beseech 
them to move quickly. Of course, the ideal would be for them to pass 
the same bill that the Senate passed in the waning hours of the last 
session. If they cannot, we will have to get legislation through the 
body again. But through the generosity of the majority leader, he has 
assured us it will be the first order of business when we return. So we 
have to move forward.
  As we have seen, this is not going to be easy. There are many bumps 
in the road and obstacles that we cannot yet see. For sure they will 
arise and for sure we will have to grapple with them.
  This vote needs to be the beginning of the process. It cannot 
certainly be the end, and it certainly cannot be the middle. We cannot 
just pass the $9 billion bill and then say that is it. We cannot let 
the House pass this and rest on its laurels. We in New York and New 
Jersey cannot let our guard down. Not until the full $60 billion 
arrives in New York and New Jersey can we stop working. So I urge my 
colleagues to support this legislation and then alert them to keep the 
victims of Sandy in New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere in their 
thoughts so that we can continue to support the region when we return.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Schumer). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, in the years I have served in legislative 
bodies, which is quite a long time now, it is interesting to see how 
different people approach the legislative process. I have learned over 
the years there is nothing more important than people working hard. You 
have to be tenacious to get legislation passed.
  The leader of passing Sandy over here--and I am confident when we get 
back in a couple of weeks after the House works on theirs, the same 
dynamic will be here--the senior Senator from New York has worked 
tirelessly to get legislation passed. He has led a team effort of 
Senators from New Jersey and his partner, Senator Gillibrand, but the 
leader, the quarterback, has been the Senator from New York.
  The work he has done not only in the Senate, but having the many 
years of experience he had in the House of Representatives, the 
Presiding Officer, the senior Senator from New York, worked day and 
night making phone calls, personal contacts with people in New York and 
New Jersey who could call House Members and have them pass this 
legislation.
  On the way back from the joint session dealing with the electoral 
vote count, he walked up and grabbed me--did not grab me, but we talked 
for several minutes walking back to the Senate--the majority leader 
from the House of Representatives. He worked extremely hard on this. He 
worked hard on it. I indicated to him that I had received calls from 
people in New York who appreciated very much his efforts to try to get 
this thing passed.
  I really do believe it is important that I have the record reflect 
the reason we have gotten as far as we have on Sandy is because of the 
senior Senator from New York. It is too bad that it has taken so long. 
When we had that devastation from Katrina, we were there within days 
taking care of Mississippi, Alabama, and especially Louisiana--within 
days. We are now past 2 months with the people of New York and New 
Jersey.
  The people of New Orleans and that area, they were hurt but nothing 
in comparison to what happened to the people in New York and New 
Jersey. Almost 1 million people have lost their homes; 1 million people 
lost their homes. That is homes, that is not people in those homes. So 
I think it is just unfortunate that we do not have the relief for New 
York and New Jersey and the rest already. It has to be done. We have to 
meet the needs of the American people when an act of God occurs.
  So I, on behalf of the entire Senate, and certainly my Democratic 
caucus, express my appreciation to the legislative initiative and the 
legislative expertise of my friend from New York, an experienced 
legislator in the State of New York, the House of Representatives, and 
the Senate. He has done a masterful job.

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