[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 57 (Tuesday, April 2, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H2941]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              BROKEN PROMISES FOR HURRICANE MICHAEL RELIEF

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Austin Scott) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, on October 10, 2018, a 
Category 3 storm, Hurricane Michael, entered my State of Georgia with a 
devastating force.
  It was harvest time for the 2018 crop, and it was the best yield, 
especially for cotton, that we had seen in years. Farmers who had been 
suffering in the midst of low commodity prices, unfair trade prices, 
labor shortages, and consecutive years of storms now had relief in 
sight. Then entered Hurricane Michael, and it was all gone in a matter 
of hours. Not just the commodity crops like cotton, but the orchards, 
too.
  Since day one post-Hurricane Michael, I have worked side by side with 
my friend and my colleague, Congressman Sanford Bishop. Hurricane 
Michael didn't discriminate between our district lines. I want to thank 
him for his help and his support of our State and our agricultural 
producers in Georgia.
  Soon after the storm, the President, Vice President Pence, and 
Secretary Perdue met with the two of us, our farmers, and our community 
leaders and promised to help them rebuild. Members of both parties, in 
both Chambers of Congress, echoed the same support. Six months later, 
and those promises of support have been broken. Never before have we 
seen communities that were wrecked with catastrophes neglected like 
this.
  Those votes in the Senate yesterday showed a lack of honor and 
dignity and how truly ugly and partisan politics have become. The truth 
is, if Hurricane Michael had hit Americans who weren't farmers or 
farmers who aren't Americans, the stories of yesterday's cowardice 
would be the front page of every paper.
  Whether the press likes it or not and whether the Senators from New 
York or Vermont like it or not, we are Americans, too. And what 
happened yesterday was cowardly, partisan politics and truly un-
American.

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