[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 5382-5383]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    INTRODUCTION OF THE ``WHATEVER IT TAKES TO REBUILD ACT OF 2008''

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 23, 2009

  Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, today I am reintroducing the ``Whatever 
it Takes to Rebuild Act''.
  A disaster can leave the tax base of an affected community eroded, 
necessitating Federal assistance to pay for essential services. These 
essential services, including police, fire, and school personnel, are 
even more critical in the wake of a disaster. To aid communities, 
Congress created the Community Disaster Loan Program. While this 
program has worked with great success, there are two significant issues 
that need to be fixed. The first issue is that this assistance is 
delivered in the form of a loan and the second is that any loan is 
limited to $5 million. Providing this aid as a loan can further delay 
the recovery of a local community and the $5 million cap does not allow 
for adequate assistance for medium or large communities.
  The ``Whatever It Takes to Rebuild Act'' would repeal the requirement 
that disaster affected communities epay the assistance they receive 
under the Community Disaster Loan Program. This legislation would 
permanently repeal the $5 million cap on these loans,

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would make states eligible for this assistance, repeal the cap that 
limits loans to 25 percent of a municipalities operating expenses, and 
would provide this assistance as grants when the President waives the 
provisions for a catastrophic event. All of these provisions are aimed 
at giving the Federal Government the tools and flexibility we need to 
fully respond following a disaster.
  This program was used most recently immediately following Hurricane 
Katrina in New Orleans. While it was able to provide significant 
benefits, repayment requirements have raised significant hurdles for 
many recipient communities. In the wake of a disaster, the government 
should give American communities the financial assistance they need to 
get back on their feet with no strings attached. That is why I am 
reintroducing the ``Whatever It Takes to Rebuild Act.''

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