[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 130 (Thursday, July 27, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3736-S3737]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            VERMONT FLOODING

  Mr. WELCH. Madam President, I would like to address the Senate and 
describe the situation in Vermont.
  On July 10, we had a catastrophic flood that affected parts of the 
entire State. What I would like to speak about today are a couple of 
things: one, where Vermont stands in the recovery and, two, to describe 
specifically damages to our agriculture community and our farming 
community.
  Before I do start, I want to express my gratitude to the Biden 
administration, to the FEMA folks who visited, to the Secretary of 
Transportation, who visited, and to the staff at FEMA, who have been 
working tirelessly to help Vermonters go through the very difficult 
process.
  There are folks who have lost their homes or suffered significant 
damage to their homes, folks who have lost their businesses. We saw, 
when I was here originally, a photograph of Montpelier, where the 
entire downtown district was flooded, and the individuals in the 
farming community who have seen all of their work and all of their 
crops destroyed.
  Senator Sanders and Congresswoman Balint and I are working as closely 
as we possibly can with Governor Scott, whose administration is totally 
dedicated to trying to help Vermonters recover. What did happen in 
Vermont affected homes, it affected infrastructure, it affected 
businesses, but it also affected the farming communities.
  Earlier this week, Governor Scott and I visited the farm of Paul 
Mazza in Essex Junction. Paul has been farming for about 40 years, 
since he was 11 years old. The farmland that we see here along the 
river--as you can see, it has risen up so that it covers much of the 
acreage. The acreage included raspberries, blueberries, blackberries--
crops for which neighbors and Vermonters from all around look forward 
to coming to the Mazza farm and self-harvesting.
  As Paul Mazza said to Governor Scott and to me, ``The people of Essex 
and the people of Vermont need my farm, and my farm needs the people of 
Vermont.''
  A custom in Vermont was for folks, with their families, to go to the 
Mazza farm and do their own picking.
  He has about 40 acres that are dedicated to those extraordinary 
crops, and they have been destroyed. We walked that farm and saw the 
devastation. When the flooded waters rose up above the crops and then 
receded, it left a residue which destroyed them. He also has almost 300 
acres of corn, feed corn, and about 250 acres of that were destroyed as 
well.
  What we understand is that about 100,000 acres of forest and cropland 
have been affected by the flood. About 10,000 of those acres are in 
direct agricultural activity.
  As for the vegetable crops from our small farmers, whose work is only 
paid for at the end of the season when they harvest and sell those 
crops, those crops are destroyed. So, with many of our smaller 
vegetable farmers, who are so important to community life and so 
important to getting good, nutritious food, those crops have been 
destroyed.
  The question is whether those farmers are going to be able to get 
back in business, and we are going to need to be able to help them if 
that is going to happen.
  I have a couple of things I would like to say. One is to Vermonters 
and to Vermont farmers: Report. Report. Report.
  In order for us here in Washington to be able to make the case for 
the aid that we need and you need, we have to document what the damages 
are. Some folks in Vermont are hesitant to make that report, thinking 
they might affect their neighbor's ability to get aid. That is not the 
case. We need to document how much loss has been suffered by every 
Vermonter.
  So, please, especially our farmers but our homeowners and our 
businesses, report. Call 211, and let us know what the damage is where 
you live. It could be anything from driveway damage to Paul Mazza's 
crop damage of a couple hundred acres.
  Second, Senator Sanders and I will be asking at some point, when we 
know what that damage is, for the assistance of our colleagues to help 
out Vermonters who have been the victims of this natural disaster, this 
catastrophic flood, that occurred 17 days ago.

  Before I finish, I want to express the inspiring response that 
Vermonters have had.
  You know, we are 17 days into this, and immediately after the flood, 
there was an outpouring of support from volunteers--other Vermonters--
to come to help businesses that were flooded, to help homeowners who 
were flooded, and even to help our farmers.
  People are going back to their lives, but Vermonters still want to 
help. Some of the stories so inspired me, and I will give one.
  In Marshfield, there is an owner of a general store, Michelle 
Eddleman McCormick. She thought she was running a country store. Well, 
on the day of the storm, in Marshfield, it was absolutely devastated. 
She took in three dozen people who stayed in her store, and she 
sheltered them. I just can't believe the generosity of this person to 
fellow Vermonters in need--taking three dozen people in, sleeping on 
the floor, and doing whatever they could to get through the night and 
the next day. The damage was enormous. Marshfield, where the country 
store is, lost three bridges, and a fourth was severely damaged.
  In the small town of Johnson, a sewer main was taken out when the 
line attached to the bottom of a bridge was ripped away by a car that 
was floating down the river. The wastewater treatment facility in 
Johnson was totally destroyed. It suffered 8 feet of water in the plant 
itself. Across Vermont, we lost 33 wastewater treatment plants.
  In the small town of Cabot--famous for its Cabot/Agri-Mark cheese--
every single road was damaged, and people were stranded within the 
community because you couldn't get out, and you couldn't get in.
  In Cambridge and Jeffersonville, these small towns were completely 
cut off during the flood. A senior low-income housing project was lost 
to the flood.
  So we are now in that stage where the initial trauma of that flood on 
July 10 is behind us, but there is very hard work that is required to 
try to get that business back on its feet or for that homeowner to find 
shelter, for that farmer--Paul Mazza and his daughter, Katie, and the 
folks who worked so hard on the Mazza farm--they have to do the day by 
day, step-by-step recovery because we want folks to be back in their 
homes; we want folks to be back on their farms; and we want folks to be 
back in their businesses.

[[Page S3737]]

  Vermonters are going to do everything they possibly can. The 
Governor's response and the legislative response is important, and 
there is public and private activity that is going on to help 
Vermonters get back on their feet, but we in the Federal Government 
have to do our part.
  Vermonters have always, always been there to help other parts of our 
country that have suffered natural disasters, which is through no fault 
of anyone's, but for the folks who are on the receiving end--in this 
case a flood, in another case a hurricane, in another case a wildfire--
we have to help each other, and Vermonters have always helped others.
  My hope--and I am confident on the basis of the very supportive 
comments that my colleagues have made to Senator Sanders and to me--is 
that we will get the help that we need for Vermonters. I am inspired by 
how Vermonters have helped each other, and my hope is that we will help 
them get back, fully recovered as soon as possible.
  I yield the floor.
  (Mr. COONS assumed the Chair.)
  (Mr. WELCH assumed the Chair.)
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coons). The Senator from Washington.

                          ____________________