[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[October 31, 1992]
[Pages 2123-2124]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



White House Statement on Disaster Assistance for Florida, Louisiana, 
Hawaii, and Guam
October 31, 1992

    The President today made available emergency appropriations for the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These funds will 
provide assistance in Florida, Louisiana, Hawaii, and Guam to victims of 
Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki and Typhoon Omar.
    These funds were appropriated in Public Law 102-368, the Dire 
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1992, which was signed into 
law on September 23, 1992. These funds were made available contingent 
upon the President submitting budget requests to the Congress and 
designating the amounts requested as emergency requirements. Forwarding 
these requests for

[[Page 2124]]

$160 million in budget authority for HUD and $57.3 million in budget 
authority for the Department of the Interior will automatically make the 
funds available.
    In submitting this request the President said:
      I am disappointed that the Congress has directed that any use of 
        the $60 million provided for HUD's HOME investment partnership 
        program funds by States and localities be conditioned upon a 
        proportional use of public housing funds. Public housing new 
        construction often requires 5 or more years to complete and 
        consequently cannot provide the immediate assistance required by 
        these disaster victims. I am therefore asking the Congress to 
        allow the Secretary of HUD to transfer any of the $100 million 
        provided for public housing new construction to other HUD 
        housing programs that are able to work more quickly and 
        efficiently to meet the immediate housing needs in these 
        disaster areas.
    The requested amounts for Interior are as follows:
    $30 million to meet the emergency needs for areas in the 
            western United States stricken by drought;
    $1.3 million to document the extensive erosion to the 
            Louisiana barrier islands caused by Hurricane Andrew;
    $1.5 million for the National Wetlands Research Center to 
            assess and monitor the ecological response of Louisiana 
            wetlands to Hurricane Andrew; and
    $24.5 million for a grant to the Louisiana Department of 
            Wildlife and Fisheries to restore damage to fish and 
            wildlife resources caused by Hurricane Andrew.