[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5607]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  CALLING FOR FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR THOSE IMPACTED BY THE TORNADO IN 
                              DESHA COUNTY

  (Mr. ROSS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, on February 24, a tornado hit Dumas in Desha 
County, Arkansas. The Governor called out the National Guard for nearly 
a week. For 6 days, there was no electricity to this delta county. 650 
people remain out of work because their workplace has been severely 
damaged or destroyed, and 150 homes were either heavily damaged or 
destroyed. And here we are more than a week later still waiting for the 
President and the Director of FEMA to declare this forgotten delta 
county a Federal Disaster Area. In fact, the FEMA spokesman, John 
Philbin, in the Arkansas News Bureau, Stevens Media, is quoted today in 
an Aaron Sadler story as saying ``The damages or need for Federal 
assistance are not readily apparent.''
  Mr. Speaker, the people at FEMA certainly did not visit the same 
Dumas and Desha County that I did. The people of Dumas and Desha County 
need the help of the Federal Government, and I implore the President 
and the Director of FEMA to assist this forgotten delta county.

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