[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 22, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S3018]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            DISASTER RELIEF

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, now on one final matter, several of 
our Senate colleagues and their counterparts in the House are 
continuing to zero in on long-overdue legislation to deliver additional 
help to Americans all across the Nation who are struggling to rebuild 
from natural disasters. This ought to have been a fairly 
straightforward process. We shouldn't need to explain why the need for 
this relief is urgent, but just for good measure, let's remember the 
Americans who are counting on us.
  In California, last year's string of wildfires included the deadliest 
and most destructive fire on record. It killed 85 people and burned 
more than 150,000 acres.
  In the Midwest earlier this year, storm surges flooded whole swaths 
of States and racked up millions of dollars in damages. As one expert 
recently put it, ``We have points in Iowa and Illinois that have been 
in flood stage for over 30 days''--30 days--``which hasn't occurred 
since we started keeping records--and some of them go back 150 years.''
  Across the Southeast and gulf coasts, recent hurricane seasons have 
left lasting scars. Hurricane Michael, which swept across Florida into 
South Georgia last October, has itself produced nearly 150,000 
insurance claims in Florida alone.
  In Alabama, more tornadoes have already been recorded in 2019 than in 
all of last year. One that touched down in Lee County on March 3 left 
23 people dead.
  Nearly 2 years after Hurricane Maria tore across Puerto Rico, too 
many storefronts are still shuttered, too many homes still lack roofs, 
and power remains too unreliable.
  And the list goes on.
  This is hardly the first time facts like these have been laid out 
here on the floor. In fact, this legislation has already taken far too 
long--far too long--to deliver. But now that we are in the home 
stretch, it is past time to put partisan politics aside, move past any 
tangential questions, and secure a final agreement that can become law; 
that is, something that can both pass the Democratic House and earn the 
President's signature soon. That is how to make a law in this 
situation.
  The Senate will vote on disaster relief this week. The Members of 
this body will not return home for Memorial Day without taking further 
action to help these struggling communities, which, by the way, include 
a number of military installations that need assistance to recover and 
to rebuild.
  It is my sincere hope that we will be able to vote on a negotiated, 
bipartisan, bicameral solution. That is how we can get to an outcome. 
That is what affected Americans deserve.
  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. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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