[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 130 (Tuesday, July 29, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4800-S4801]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    National Flood Insurance Program

  Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, recently, there was flooding in Texas. 
The tragedy there is unspeakable--135 lives claimed. And you can't 
listen to the story of the young campers being swept away literally by 
the flood waters without getting emotional--26 feet of water rising in 
just 45 minutes.
  And so, for many Americans, that is hard to imagine--but for not as 
many as you might expect.
  According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, nearly every 
parish and county in the United States has experienced flooding in the 
last few decades--not every State, every parish and county.
  No place in our country is untouched by flooding. For example, not in 
New York City. This is New York City--New York City, as we used to say 
down South. It saw its second wettest hour in history this month as 
rain caused what the New York Post headline described as ``terrifying, 
freak flash flooding.''
  Not New Mexico, on the bottom of this. New Mexico, what you think of 
as being in the desert, saw deadly flooding this month despite its dry 
climate. We in Louisiana, as well as anybody, know that there is a 
tragedy which can result not just with the flooding but can result 
after the flooding, a tragedy which people cannot afford to live in 
their homes no matter what they do to prevent future flooding because 
of unaffordable flood insurance rates.
  I am all about preventing the first tragedy. How do we stop the 
initial episode of flooding?
  I have supported the Building Resilient Infrastructure and 
Communities, or BRIC, grants, and the administration has assured me 
that they are going to release those funds.
  I also want to prevent the second tragedy of people losing the place 
where they have lived, perhaps for decades--no matter what they do to 
prevent their homes from flooding again--not because it is destroyed, 
but because they cannot afford flood insurance at a reasonable rate on 
a property that once flooded but now the risk has been mitigated.
  That is why I continue to work toward a solution on the National 
Flood Insurance Program: Make flood insurance affordable again.
  Until the program is affordable for a homeowner, accountable to the 
taxpayer, and sustainable for future generations, Americans will, 
unfortunately, be forced to drop the program because they can't afford 
the premiums.
  Now FEMA aid may be available to help people repair homes after a 
federally declared disaster, but it often covers just a fraction of the 
cost. And, by the way, because of FEMA's risk rating 2.0, people whose 
homes have never flooded or people who have taken measures so their 
home will not flood again are, nonetheless, forced to pay outrageous 
premiums.
  You might think: How can a working American be expected to afford 
flood insurance when the price spikes so much? Or maybe you think: 
Well, it is expensive, but some can still afford the program.
  Well, we have another problem threatening the flood insurance 
program: It expires September 30.
  If we do nothing, every American enrolled in the National Flood 
Insurance Program, which is millions of Americans, will be without 
protection by the time the next flood season starts. National 
emergencies won't stop, the destruction will not end, the threat of 
flooding will not vanish, but the safety net to rebuild a life--that 
will go away.
  Now I am working on a long-term National Flood Insurance Program 
reauthorization and reform bill to stabilize the program, protecting 
taxpayers and protecting communities. When all Americans are affected, 
a Federal response is necessary, and I want to work with President 
Trump and my colleagues to make flood insurance affordable again.


                 20th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

  Mr. President, I want to mark the upcoming anniversary of one of the 
worst disasters my State and our country have ever faced: Hurricane 
Katrina.
  Twenty years ago this August, Louisiana and much of the gulf coast 
region suffered a devastating blow that required such a response. It is 
a heartbreaking anniversary. Hurricane Katrina killed hundreds of 
Americans, separated families, and destroyed belongings we thought 
would be cherished forever.
  The devastation was felt in every community. You may have had your 
home destroyed in New Orleans East, but if you lived in Shreveport or 
in Bossier City or in Monroe, our fellow Louisianians came there to 
live in the Hirsch Coliseum, the Bossier City Civic Center, to stay 
there, sleeping on a mat in a communal setting, walking over here to 
take a shower or over there to go to the bathroom, because their homes 
had been destroyed.
  In Baton Rouge, I led a group of volunteers to convert an abandoned 
K-Mart into an emergency surge facility for the overflow from the 
regular hospital. You know, because of that, looking around at the 
failure of government at every level, I thought, my gosh, maybe I 
should run for office. And I have been working to prevent another 
disaster on this scale ever since.
  Since then, Louisiana and our Nation have invested $15 billion in the 
levee system, and these have helped prevent flooding.
  There is a levee system in what we call the Bayou Region. The Bayou 
Region touches the Gulf of Mexico. The flood mitigation structures we 
built have been said to have prevented 10,000 homes from being flooded 
during Hurricane Ida. We know that building resiliency works.
  In the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, I worked to get 
millions in coastal resiliency grants and millions more in flood 
mitigation assistance grants for my State but for other States 
similarly affected.
  One example, by the way, if you fly into New Orleans and you drive 
towards Baton Rouge, around a city called LaPlace, there is a huge 
flood control structure, and you can see how the swamp has been 
separated and that they are building the mound of dirt in between. That 
is what the money is going for, to prevent these communities from being 
flooded again.
  If you go to Lake Pontchartrain, there is money to restore what is 
called the batture. The batture is the area between the levee and the 
water level. We have invested money as a Federal Government and as a 
State government to rebuild that batture, and in the Infrastructure 
Investment and Jobs Act, more money was applied.

[[Page S4801]]

  You knew it worked because one of our storms--I happened to be out 
there looking, and there was a wave that crashed off Lake 
Pontchartrain. It hit the batture, it began to crest, and it fell. As 
it fell, it almost hit to the top of the levee, and a few drops went 
over. That batture being built out kept the wave from cresting right 
next to the levee and that water going over and flooding everybody on 
the other side.
  Building resiliency works. It works for the Federal taxpayer, it 
works for the Louisiana taxpayer, and it works for the families whose 
lives are secure.
  Improving highway evacuation routes, hardening the electrical grid, 
and investing in flood mitigation are all things I worked for in the 
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The reason I did it is that we 
can't prevent another hurricane, but we can prevent the bad things that 
happen afterwards.
  As the 20th anniversary approaches, we are reminded of those losses 
but also the gallantry, the true gallantry of the American people, 
because in the worst times, we come together. We are seeing the same 
reaction following the terrible flooding in Texas.
  In the weeks following Katrina, people from all over the world and 
all over the country stepped up with disaster relief. Now we see that 
in Texas. I am told that Florida, Kansas, Pennsylvania, California, 
Nebraska, Illinois, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio--I could list the 
States, all sent National Guard. I am sorry, that was in Louisiana.
  But, similarly, people from different States all went to Texas to 
help--Indiana, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Missouri, and it continues. 
When tragedy hits, Americans respond.
  We may not be able to take away the pain of loss--I wish we could--
but Congress can help ease the financial burden of recovery, and an 
essential way to do that is by making flood insurance affordable.