[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18659]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Crowley) for 3 minutes.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, last night the Republican leadership 
reneged on their commitment to vote on aid for the families in the 
States that were devastated by Superstorm Sandy. We were told it was 
because Republicans just couldn't stomach any additional votes in this 
Congress.
  I wonder if those same people walked along the beaches of Long Beach 
and Long Island, Breezy Point and Belle Harbor and Rockaway Beach in 
Greg Meeks's district, Staten Island or Seaside Heights in New Jersey; 
if they could stomach the devastation they would witness, stomach the 
lives that were lost, stomach the homes that have been destroyed or the 
families that have been displaced, stomach the businesses that are 
closed and, in many places, have been lost.
  In the weeks after the storm, my Republican colleagues told us--not 
all, by the way, and I want to point out that Mr. Grimm and Mr. King, 
Mr. Dold and others were very, very helpful--but the leadership, I'm 
talking about, told us they were with us and that they would support 
us.
  But I guess those were only words, because last night we learned the 
truth. And thanks to their actions, there's no additional Federal 
assistance to help hardworking people rebuild and restart their lives.
  Now, I'm not a cynic, but I do wonder, what if we told the 
Republicans that a few millionaires' and billionaires' lives were 
destroyed by the storm, whether they'd want to help all the families 
hurting because of Sandy?
  And I wonder, what if Republicans were promised that by providing aid 
to families in need that, in turn, they would get a tax break? Would 
these incentives have changed their mind? Would it have prompted 
action? Because it truly does appear their only priority is helping 
those that have the most.
  Republicans in Congress brought this House to a new low last night.
  The banner over the Speaker's chair says ``In God We Trust.'' God 
alone cannot help these families rebuild but, unfortunately, the 
American people cannot trust the Republican Congress to help either. 
The only thing my Republican colleagues did this week was to serve up 
false hope to the people who have been devastated by the storm, false 
promises, false guarantees that we'd be there to help them in their 
time of need.
  Many of you know that my cousin, John Moran--I don't speak about John 
often--was killed on 9/11. He came from the Rockaway community. There 
was a monument on the beach, 118th Street. There were, I would say, 
dozens of monuments, as Congressman Meeks knows, along the Rockaway 
Peninsula. They were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.
  It didn't stop my family and his neighbors from going out and sifting 
through the feet of sand to find that memorial. It was that precious to 
them. They didn't wait for the Federal Government to come help pull 
them up by their bootstraps. They did it themselves. They continue to 
do it.
  There are humble people, proud people throughout this entire region 
who have been affected by this. They will recover but, sad to say, no 
thanks to the 112th Congress.

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