[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18668]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for 1 minute.
  Mr. COURTNEY. When Hurricane Sandy struck on October 29 in eastern 
Connecticut's Long Island Sound with 90-mile-per-hour winds and high 
tide, it created a path of destruction never seen before. Homes were 
wiped out, utility infrastructure was wiped out, transportation 
infrastructure was wiped out. But what was so inspiring about it was 
that the first responders acted--police, fire, Coast Guard, the 
Governor of Connecticut, local and municipal officials. They acted. In 
the weeks since then, the Senate has acted. President Obama declared an 
emergency on October 30. The Department of Homeland Security acted. The 
only place that hasn't acted is the House of Representatives, where 
last night, in the dark of the night, the Speaker announced that he was 
abandoning the people of northeastern America and allowing the 
Hurricane Sandy relief bill to die.
  That is unacceptable. The people who acted--the first responders, the 
caregivers, the local officials--they deserve better. The local 
officials, the Members of Congress for the Northeast, in a bipartisan 
way, deserve better. The Speaker must reverse his decision. It is time 
to act today.

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