[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 37 (Thursday, March 14, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H1401]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          SAFE CLIMATE CAUCUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Mrs. Capps) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to the 
looming crisis of climate change. The effects of climate change are 
diverse, but they all impact American lives and livelihoods, and we are 
realizing and witnessing these occurrences in real-time.
  Extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy, severe drought, and 
major flooding are becoming more frequent and growing more intense. 
Sandy alone caused at least $50 billion in damages, killed dozens of 
Americans, and upended the lives of millions more. But Sandy was only 
one of 11 separate billion-dollar extreme weather events last year.
  And not only are things getting worse each time, but these events are 
occurring more frequently now than they were even a decade ago. And of 
course, the cost of all these catastrophes--cost which is borne by the 
taxpayer--is also escalating.
  One of the first actions of this Congress was to enact over $60 
billion in emergency aid for all those impacted by Sandy. Who knows how 
much the next catastrophe will cost?
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot afford to sit back and wait for the next 
Hurricane Sandy to devastate American lives and property. Especially in 
these tight economic times, I think we can all agree that reducing the 
cost of extreme weather events is a good idea. And one of the most 
effective ways to reduce these costs is to plan ahead. Regardless of 
what you think about its causes, extreme weather is happening, and 
because we cannot guarantee that these events will not happen in the 
future, we can and we must do more to prepare. Imagine the lives, 
infrastructure, homes, and businesses that could have been saved if 
we'd better anticipated and prepared for the impacts of these events 
before they occurred.
  By smarter planning and building more resilient infrastructure, we 
can reduce storm damages, we can lessen economic impacts, and we can 
save lives. And these mitigation and adaptation measures also create 
good quality American jobs that can help to grow our economy for the 
future. It's a win-win that we should all support.
  That's why last month I reintroduced two bills that would help our 
local communities implement these cost-saving measures. One is the 
Coastal States Climate Change Planning Act, which would provide help 
for coastal States who wish to carry out adaptation projects in order 
to prepare for the impacts of climate change. Another bill is the Water 
Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act, supporting States 
wishing to update their aging storm, waste, and drinking water systems 
in order to adapt for climate change. These bills would help our local 
communities to plan and prepare for the impacts of climate change and 
increased extreme weather. Our communities deserve protections from 
these potentially devastating events and we have a responsibility to 
help.
  Mr. Speaker, we have a choice. We can continue to spend tens of 
billions of dollars annually on emergency aid packages that will only 
grow in size and quantity, or we can spend a fraction of that on 
planning smarter and building more resilient infrastructure that 
creates jobs and strengthens our economy for years to come.
  I think the choice is clear. Let's choose to protect our coastlines 
and to fortify our infrastructure. Let's choose to create good American 
jobs and strengthen our economy. Let's choose to plan ahead to protect 
lives, to protect property, and the Federal Government itself from the 
impacts of extreme weather.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in taking action on this critical 
issue and to help our communities to prepare for the impacts of climate 
change.

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