[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 145 (Wednesday, September 18, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6136-S6137]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Hurricane Francine

  Madam President, the first topic that I want to touch briefly on 
today provokes both sorrow and pride.
  I am sorry to report that, last week, my people in Louisiana were hit 
by yet another hurricane, Hurricane Francine. It was a category 2. It 
was right on the line between a category 1 and a category 2. We had 
winds of 100 miles an hour. We had 9 to 10 inches of rain. We had a 
vicious storm surge.
  My people did what they always do: They got ready for it. They 
reacted to the storm with grace and with pressure. My people filled 
sandbags, and we checked on our neighbors, and we listened to our local 
officials. We said prayers for our first responders. My people are as 
tough as a pine knot. They are also compassionate. And we made it 
through.
  Some have said: Well, compared to past hurricanes, Francine was not 
as bad as some in the past.
  And that is true. It could always be worse. But that is cold 
comfort--cold comfort--for the thousands of Louisianians who sustained 
damage from that storm surge and those ferocious winds and that rain. 
And I want to assure my people that, as we have in the past, we will 
persevere, and we will make it through.
  I have never, in my years in the Senate, voted against providing 
relief for any of our sister States and my fellow Senators who have 
asked for it and who have been the victims of a natural disaster, and I 
never will. That is the first role of government. It is to protect 
people and property. And I will never vote against aid for one of our 
sister States that, through no fault of its own, is struck by nature.
  I say that because I will be asking the American people to help 
Louisiana one more time. We won't ask for a penny more than we need. 
The help that I will seek will be in the form of personal assistance in 
housing, for example; infrastructure assistance; and mitigation grants.
  I want to thank President Biden and Governor Landry, with whom I 
toured by helicopter the damage last week. Governor Landry asked for a 
disaster declaration from the President, and President Biden was quick 
to agree. I want to thank him for that. I want to thank our FEMA 
Administrator, Ms. Deanne Criswell. She came to Louisiana immediately 
after the storm passed through, and I want to thank our Administrator 
for being on the ground and her personal touch.
  One of the things I talked to the Administrator about is, as you 
know, FEMA has implemented a new flood insurance premium program called 
Risk Rating 2.0, which is breaking the backs of every insured in the 
Flood Insurance Program. Premiums have gone through the roof. I can 
assure you that the damages would have been much worse with respect to 
Francine had it not been for the investment that the American taxpayer 
and the taxpayers of Louisiana have made in new flood protection 
systems and new levees. And with that money that we have spent--
including but not limited to the money by Louisiana citizens, who taxed 
themselves to build these levees--our people should be given credit on 
their flood insurance premiums for that investment they have made.

  All you have to do is take Terrebonne Parish as an example. In 
Louisiana, we call our counties ``parishes.'' Terrebonne Parish, at the 
southern part of my State, has spent over $1 billion of their money--
and we are not a wealthy State. My people in Terrebonne taxed 
themselves to help build a levee system called the Morganza to the Gulf 
levee system, which will mitigate the damages from this last storm.
  Had it not been for the levee that my people taxed themselves to 
build--and,

[[Page S6137]]

look, I don't want to be unfair. The Corps of Engineers and the 
American taxpayer helped us, too, but we did our fair share. Had it not 
been for those levees that my people contributed to, the damages would 
have been billions and billions and billions of dollars just from the 
storm surge in South Louisiana, for a category 2 storm that moved 
through quickly. And that investment by taxpayers should be reflected 
in the flood insurance premiums, and they should go down.