[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 51 (Monday, March 25, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1919-S1920]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Midwestern Floods

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to share a 
message from Iowa's heartland.
  As you know, millions of Americans in the middle of the country are 
experiencing catastrophic flooding. My home State of Iowa and our 
neighbors in Nebraska are particularly hard hit, and it will affect 
others downriver of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.
  I want to thank the Trump administration for its swift response on 
Saturday to approve the expedited requests for a major disaster 
declaration made by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds Thursday evening. The 
flooding has caused tremendous damage, impacting more than two-thirds 
of Iowa's 99 counties. The Federal disaster proclamation will trigger 
emergency assistance to 56 of those counties so far. Those would be the 
counties in blue on the map here.
  Governor Reynolds' team has been in the trenches, working hand in 
hand with local officials and county emergency coordinators. They 
estimated damages so far across our entire State to be $1.6 billion. 
The damages estimated for agriculture are $214 million; damages to 
homes, $481 million; and levee repairs, $525 million.
  By all accounts and every possible metric, the damages and 
devastation are overwhelming. Yet, at the very same time, the legendary 
mythology of America's heartland and its people is rooted in truth. The 
road to recovery will be long, grueling, and at times gruesome, but I 
am confident that the grit and resilience of Iowans and their fellow 
midwesterners will prevail.
  Over the last week, we have heard remarkable stories of neighbor 
helping neighbor and neighbors helping total strangers. Residents of 
all ages and differing abilities rubbed elbows to bag sand to save a 
water treatment facility in their small town. First responders and Good 
Samaritans rescued people stranded in their homes. Farmers moved their 
neighbor's grain and livestock to higher ground. Volunteers rolled up 
their sleeves to serve hot meals and deliver water. Generous Americans 
across our country opened their wallets to donate money, food, water, 
hygiene products, and medical supplies. Iowa farmers who were not wiped 
out by the floods are sending truckloads of much needed hay to 
livestock producers and ranchers in Nebraska.
  These stories offer a glimmer of sunshine in the darkest hours of the 
2019 floods. You might say that we are experiencing an unwelcome twist 
of March Madness along the Missouri River. Despite being mired in muck 
and mud, it is reassuring to see the full-court press and gritty 
resilience of midwesterners.
  Make no mistake--the catastrophic damages to private property, 
farmland, Main Street businesses, public utilities, and critical 
infrastructure, including wells, roads, bridges, and railways, have 
extended beyond the capability of local and State government.
  Aerial footage of our State makes entire communities and farmsteads 
look like an island surrounded by an ocean. You can see some of that 
here in this photo that was taken just last week. You see here a small 
community along the Missouri River. This is the town of Pacific 
Junction, which is located in the southwestern corner of the State in 
Mills County. Its entire population was forced to evacuate. As you can 
see from this photo, the rooftops of homes appear to be floating in the 
muddy waters of a Monopoly board.
  I ask my colleagues here in the Senate and I ask Americans listening 
at home to put yourselves in the shoes of those evacuated from their 
homes.

[[Page S1920]]

Imagine if this were your home soaking in unsanitary water for days on 
end. Consider for a moment the damages to your furniture, clothes, 
appliances, and your most prized possessions. Think how much it would 
cost to replace those items. Now add up the countless hours of hard 
work it would take to clean up the mess, mud, muck, and mold once the 
water finally recedes.
  I have another photo here I want you to look at. Let's now turn to a 
photo taken near Pacific Junction.
  I thank Larry Winum of Glenwood, IA, a constituent and a friend, for 
sharing these photos.
  Just think of the small businesses impacted by the floods. The photo 
here of a motel illustrates how flooding can wash away the livelihoods 
of business owners and their employees. This particular business will 
indefinitely have zero occupancy. Even if the roads were open, this 
business would need a floor-to-ceiling refurbishment to replace beds, 
linens, carpets, and towels, and most likely even significant plumbing 
and electrical work.
  I want to show a photo of Main Street in Hamburg, IA. This community 
was hard hit in 2011. I was there in 2011. It is worse now. You can see 
it is underwater in 2019.
  Let's examine how the flooding has affected our farmers. As a 
lifelong farmer, I know exactly what farmers across my State are 
feeling at this time of the year. They get very antsy and keep constant 
watch on the weather, soil temperatures, and planting conditions for 
their seed. They have ordered seeds and fertilizers. These farmers are 
chomping at the bit to get started on field work.
  Now imagine the farmers along the Missouri River. Tens of thousands 
of acres of farmland are underwater. For sure, these acres may never be 
ready for planting this season.
  Now consider the farmers who were storing grain in the bins along the 
Missouri. Millions of bushels of flood-soaked grain have spilled into 
murky floodwaters.
  This picture says it all. This is grain that farmers were counting on 
to pay the bills to put this year's crop in the ground. This photo was 
shared courtesy of State Representative David Sieck, whose legislative 
district is almost completely impacted by the flood damages. I thank 
David for sharing.
  My State staff tells me that some farmers in the flooded areas didn't 
get last fall's crop fully harvested, and of course that is destroyed.
  Since March 12, my staff has been crisscrossing scores of Iowa 
counties to visit affected communities and meet directly with Iowans. 
They are sharing directly with me the feedback from Iowans. I am making 
plans to visit affected areas as soon as I can as well. I am anxious to 
measure recovery and cleanup efforts to inform my decisions on tax and 
spending policies that are needed to help with recovery efforts going 
forward.
  As my speech and these photos suggest to all and I hope will suggest 
to each of my colleagues here in the Senate, we have a long road to 
recovery from the floods of 2019. In fact, it could be worse. The 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a wake-up call 
last week. We are not yet out of the woods--not by a long shot. With 
more precipitation, snowmelt, saturated soils, frozen ground, and 
massive ice jams, we are in store for significant spring flooding that 
may reach 200 million Americans.
  Today, I have talked largely about the extent of damages and the 
recovery efforts that are just getting started. It is also important to 
talk about flood mitigation. Breached, overtopped, or compromised 
levees span hundreds of miles on the Missouri River along the States of 
Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri.
  It took a long time for these communities to recover from flooding 
that took place 8 years ago. It is no wonder an awful lot of Iowans are 
feeling like they are way back to square one again.
  Iowans, especially those who live along the Missouri River, want and 
deserve answers. Southwest Iowa communities have raised grave concern 
about the unresponsive Corps of Engineers--specifically, about the lack 
of communication and about not enough river dredging, water release, 
and about ordering the town of Hamburg, back in 2011, to remove 
reinforcements of the now-breached levee that left the town under 
water.
  I, too, share the concerns that have been expressed to the Corps of 
Engineers. I have had a chance to talk to the Corps headquarters in 
Omaha. For years I have worked with several of my midwestern colleagues 
along the Missouri River to make flood control the No. 1 priority of 
the Corps.
  It seems to me that misguided decisions and misplaced priorities have 
eclipsed common sense. As I told you, I talked last week with the 
commander of the Corps in Omaha and shared my concerns about the lack 
of communication and coordination with local communities. Perhaps a 
good scrubbing of the Master Manual of the Corps of Engineers for the 
Missouri River may help to clear the wax out of bureaucratic ears that 
haven't gotten the message.
  The No. 1 priority of the Corps should be flood control--flood 
control, period. I started out today by saying that I wanted to share a 
message from America's heartland. I close my remarks by sending a 
message to that American heartland.
  As Iowa's senior Senator, I will stand with you every step of the 
way. My staff and I are working very closely with Iowa and midwestern 
congressional delegations, the Trump administration, and State agencies 
to make sure disaster relief programs are working effectively for 
homeowners, small businesses, farmers, and our local communities.
  The best I thing I can say to any Federal Agency and their employees, 
the Corps of Engineers, FEMA, and many others is to use a little common 
sense and cut out a lot of the redtape, but here is where it ends.
  When the going gets tough, Iowans get tougher. So hang tough, keep 
fighting, and know that help is on the way.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.