[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6988]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           ILLINOIS FLOODING

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, closer to home in Illinois, we are 
fighting the floods. It happens regularly, and we have had a tough time 
with it. The Ohio River, the Illinois River, and the Mississippi River 
have all been threatening communities such as Metropolis and Old 
Shawneetown. I was down in Cairo, IL, a couple of weeks ago and saw how 
bad it was. It was a scary situation in a very poor town.
  The Corps of Engineers had a tough decision to make. They had to blow 
a levee, which means opening farm land to be flooded. To take the 
pressure off the rivers, they did it. I said to General Walsh when he 
was in the process of making the decision: Do what is right and I will 
stand by you. I know what I want you to do, but do what is right. I 
think he did the right thing, and I stand by him.
  Now I stand by those living in Missouri who were affected by that 
decision. If they in any way suffered hardship or inconvenience or loss 
of income as farmers, we need to stand by them, as we do with so many 
across America in times of disaster.
  I know we have had a big challenge in our State. Governor Quinn and I 
were on the phone the day before yesterday talking about the response. 
He was on his way down to Metropolis. A mutual friend of ours, Mayor 
Billy McDaniel, down there is working with Pulaski County Board 
Chairman Monte Russell to find places for people to stay as they wait 
for the flood waters to recede in Metropolis.
  In Carmi, Mayor David Port and Golconda Mayor Bill Altman are working 
with our office to make sure that pumps and other supplies are there 
when they are needed. In Cairo, we had a change in administration. I 
worked with Judson Childs, the former mayor. He has now been replaced 
by Tyrone Coleman. We will continue to work with them. They vacated a 
lot of homes. People are staying in gyms and other places and waiting 
for a chance to go back home. We are going to do our best to make sure 
that happens.
  A special salute to our Illinois National Guard. These men and women 
come to the rescue of our State every time we face a disaster. This is 
no different. They are putting in long hours. I thank them for their 
unselfish commitment. And GEN Bill Enyart can be proud of the men and 
women of the Guard units across the State of Illinois.
  The Illinois Emergency Management Agency under Director Jonathon Luck 
has been in touch with our office every single day. They are assessing 
the damage that has been done. They will measure that damage, and at 
the appropriate moment--and I am sure it will be soon--will move 
forward with our congressional delegation to ask for Federal disaster 
status and Federal disaster assistance. That is something that I think 
will definitely be needed and is appropriate for the magnitude of this 
challenge.
  I will work with my colleague Senator Kirk, who visited last week in 
this region. We are going to work together, in a bipartisan way, to 
make sure that our State and the people who are suffering under these 
flooding conditions have a chance to recover, get back to their homes 
and back to their businesses and back to work.
  (The remarks of Mr. Durbin pertaining to the introduction of S. 952 
are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Rhode Island.

                          ____________________