[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11361]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     DISASTER IN GREENSBURG, KANSAS

  Mr. ROBERTS. My colleagues, last Friday evening the town of 
Greensburg, KS, was literally wiped off the map by an enormous, mile-
and-a-half, level 5 tornado. As a result of this and storms associated 
with the system, 12 Kansans are confirmed dead--and I fear that number 
may still rise--and all of the 1,500 residents of Greensburg have been 
displaced.
  What we have experienced in Greensburg is unlike any other event in 
recent Kansas history. The hospital is gone. The schools are gone. 
Every church is gone. Virtually every business in the community is 
gone, including all of Main Street. Estimates are that fully 95 percent 
of the structures in the town are damaged and destroyed.
  But this is not all. Even as cleanup is starting, more storms 
continue to pound our State. Flooding and strong storms continue to 
compound the problem.
  Too often, while government does not communicate and work well as 
partners in times of need and emergency, sometimes we could double that 
for Congress. However, this weekend my fellow Kansas Congressman and 
the Governor of Kansas and I all toured the devastated town of 
Greensburg. We were accompanied by our State's top-notch emergency 
officials. I spoke extensively with all levels of FEMA, in an effort to 
make sure they had everything they needed to move into place, and I 
talked to President Bush to give him a personal update from a 
McDonald's in Pratt, KS. Let me tell you, there is nothing quite like 
speaking to the President of the United States from a phonebooth in a 
local McDonald's to let the surrounding residents know their Government 
does mean business.
  The President has been very supportive. We have been notified by the 
White House that he will be making a trip to Kansas to personally view 
the damage and visit with the people of Greensburg. The credit for this 
not only falls on Federal shoulders but those of our National Guard, 
all of the first responders, Red Cross, and many volunteers who, along 
with President Bush and the FEMA team and our State officials, are now 
working 24/7 to make it possible for the residents of Greensburg to 
rebuild and return home.
  I stood here this winter, following a blizzard that buried much of 
western Kansas, and proclaimed the resiliency of Kansans, our 
willingness to help each other and our sheer determination when faced 
with great odds. That determination is being tested again, but I have 
no doubt in the coming days and weeks and months that the story of 
Greensburg will progress from one of horrible tragedy to one of 
optimism and hope for the future as we help one another rebuild, one 
brick at a time. It may be possible, indeed likely, that as we move 
forward, we may need additional emergency assistance or legislation 
from Congress to assist the residents of the town that no longer 
exists. I put our Senate leadership and all our colleagues on notice 
today that we will likely be coming to you with any requests for 
assistance to rebuild this Kansas community.

                          ____________________