[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 13317-13318]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            DISASTER FUNDING

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, if we would pause a few minutes and think 
about what has gone on in America this year: We have had flooding on 
the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and other rivers in the Midwest. To 
show the power of this flood, on the Mississippi River alone there are 
3 million acres underwater--farmland. We have had devastating tornadoes 
in the South. These tornadoes don't have names but they have a 
viciousness that is hard to comprehend. In Joplin, MO, about 200 people 
were killed. There was devastation. It is believed those winds reached 
nearly 300 miles an hour. Some say they are the highest recorded winds 
ever. They eliminated everything in their path.
  Wildfires in the South and the West have been extremely harsh. Take 
Texas alone. Fires have been burning in Texas for the last month. Two 
thousand homes have been destroyed, burned to the ground. The fires are 
still present. I heard today that they are about 50 percent controlled.
  We now have had Hurricane Irene. The wake of damage from Hurricane 
Irene hit numerous States, States that usually have no damage, all up 
the coast. Vermont has no coastline but they were devastated. Hundreds 
of bridges were washed out in Vermont. Vermont is a sparsely populated 
State. There are about 600,000 people, I understand, in the whole 
State, but it has been really hurt. The largest office complex in the 
whole State, with some 1,700 employees, is out of operation, 
underwater.
  Tropical Storm Lee quickly followed Irene. Tropical Storm Lee has 
left damage in lots of places. We haven't been hurt real hard here in 
the metropolitan area of the District of Columbia. I have been here 
quite a while and I can never remember it raining for a week at a time, 
but that is what we just had. It rained basically all last week. The 
Potomac River is very high, but other States have been hurt worse by 
Tropical Storm Lee. I don't remember the exact number of deaths because 
of Lee, but it is approximately 20. Here in Virginia a 12-year-old boy 
in his backyard was washed away.

[[Page 13318]]

  Since the first of this year, President Obama has issued disaster 
declarations for 48 States and the hurricane season is not over yet. 
The Commerce Department said this year we have had 10 disasters, each 
with more than $1 billion in damage, and $1 billion is an 
understatement when you talk about what happened with Irene. They say 
that will reach $25 billion, that one storm. That is the most we have 
had in decades--probably the most ever.
  No one should be surprised that the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency is about broke. As of today, they have a few hundred million 
dollars left, probably in the $300 million range. In just the last 2 
weeks, FEMA spent almost $400 million out of the fund for Hurricane 
Irene and other disasters. That should not be out of that fund. That 
should be forward funded. So FEMA is dangerously close to running out 
of money.
  To make sure FEMA will have enough money to meet the immediate needs 
for food, water, and emergency housing for victims of new disasters, on 
August 28 FEMA stopped approving funding for disaster recovery projects 
from past disasters. This means funding is on hold to rebuild schools, 
hospitals, roads, public utilities from past disasters like Katrina, 
Rita, Gustav, and Ike, the Mississippi River flood of 2008--they are 
still doing work there to renovate that area--the Tennessee flood of 
2010 and tornadoes in Missouri and Alabama of days past. So we have 
hundreds of millions of dollars that need to be spent in places such as 
Joplin, MO. They are not spending money there in Joplin, MO. After all 
they have been through there, no money.
  The need is urgent. That is why we are seeking to move to the House-
passed revenue measure to serve as a vehicle for disaster relief. The 
House insists, as they should, that because of our Constitution's 
Origination Clause, all appropriation measures have to originate in the 
House. So we had to take a bill--the House bill we have here on the 
calendar--and that is why we have to move to the Burma revenue measure 
tonight to allow the Senate to address this disaster assistance.
  The Burma sanctions bill is a bill that the Republican leader has 
been out in front of for ages. He has been the watchdog of this 
terrible war and adverse nature that is taking place in Burma. He has 
been out front on this issue, and I appreciate that very much.
  Every year we pass these Burma sanctions unanimously. No one opposes 
them. The only reason anyone might be holding up this Burma sanctions 
bill is because my friends on the other side of the aisle, the 
Republicans, do not want to allow the Senate to vote on disaster 
assistance. Why do we need to do that? How much more specific do I need 
to be? We need to help communities hit hard by flooding, tornadoes, 
hurricanes, and other acts of God. I would think twice if I were one of 
my Republican friends. I have gone over some of the areas where these 
tornadoes and these fires and other natural disasters have occurred and 
this is our only hope of getting help for these States.
  The House is indicating they are going to send us a bill, but they 
are playing around the edges of what needs to be done. We have a bill 
that was reported basically out of the Senate Appropriations 
Committee--from Democrats and from Republicans--supporting it. What is 
needed is about $9 billion. We want to be in keeping with the Budget 
Deficit Reduction Act because in there we are allowed $7 billion. That 
is the number we are going to put forward tomorrow on this bill. It 
would be a real shame if we are not allowed to move to this Burma 
sanctions bill because everyone voting no to proceed to this is voting 
no on assistance to these States. There is no other way to do it. We 
are not going to accept some small number the House sends over. We 
cannot do that. The House is planning on doing some of its usual 
stuff--I will say that in a positive sense--in sending us a continuing 
resolution that we must enact by the end of this month, and they want 
to stick in the funding for FEMA, which is very low. We cannot allow 
that to happen.
  I hope everyone tonight at 5:30 will vote to allow us to go forward 
on this most important piece of legislation.
  I would ask that the quorum call begin.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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