    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [July 14, 1993]
    [Pages 1074-1075]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1074]]

    Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters at a Water Distribution Site in
    Des Moines, Iowa
    July 14, 1993

        The President. Thank you very much. Let me just say, first of all,
    how very appreciative I am for the incredible work that has been done
    here in the last several days by the people of this State. I'm very
    proud of the contribution that has been made by all of the Federal
    Agencies, working in partnership with the people of Iowa, and I want to
    say a special word of appreciation for the Federal Emergency Management
    Agency and its Director, James Lee Witt, but also to the Agriculture
    Department. Secretary Espy is here with me for the second time in only
    10 days, and I think his third trip to Iowa, and Mr. Witt is here. And
    your Senators and your congressional delegation, they're all here with
    us today. And Governor Branstad and I took a helicopter flight over the
    major portions of Des Moines and the surrounding area that have been
    hurt so badly.
        Because I come from a State that's not all that different from Iowa,
    I have seen whole towns flooded, I have seen massive amounts of farmland
    flooded, but I've never seen anything on this scale before. And
    certainly, in my lifetime, anyway, to my knowledge there's never been an
    American city without water that was this large for this long a period
    of time.
        I'm here today to view this damage, to talk to the members of the
    congressional delegation, to talk to the Governor and the other State
    officials of the people who are here working, and to do what I can to
    assure you that the victims of this disaster--and insofar as I, as
    President, can guarantee it--will be treated just like the victims of
    Hurricane Andrew or Hugo or the terrible devastation in Hawaii that my
    wife is visiting today from just several months ago. This is a very
    profound problem.
        As you know, we have five States now, Minnesota, Wisconsin,
    Illinois, and Missouri, along with Iowa, that have been declared
    disasters. We have our Federal folks in South Dakota, which has had
    extensive crop damage, Kansas, and Nebraska, reviewing those States. We
    will present today a bill to the Congress for emergency assistance based
    on our best estimates of the damage reports that have been filed to
    date. But we know there will be several more in, in the next few days,
    and I expect we'll have to revise all those numbers upward. We want to
    get the bill in today just to start movement on the bill. But as the
    damage reports come in over the next 4 to 5 days, I expect you'll see
    some revision upward in the numbers that the administration has asked
    for, both in the House and the Senate. And I want to say again, I'm
    going to do my best to make sure that the full reach of Federal
    assistance comes to the people of Iowa and to all the victims of this
    flood, and I'll be working closely with your congressional delegation to
    get that done.
        But in the end, this is really a triumph of the spirit of the people
    of this State. I've been very moved by what I have seen not only from
    the helicopter but here in this parking lot today. And I want to say a
    special word of thanks to all those who have volunteered their time and
    who have come forward to help people in times of need, because that's
    really what America is all about. We've seen once again that we are
    capable of being a very strong family when we need to be, and it's a
    great tribute to your people. Thank you very much.
        Q. Mr. President, there's a lot of desperate people here in Iowa,
    and Minnesota, Missouri, throughout the Midwest. What kinds of words on
    a personal level, words of encouragement, can you give them?
        The President. Well, I can tell them that I have seen this sort of
    thing happen before in my own State. I've lived through this. I've seen
    people wiped out of their homes. And I talked to a lot of people here
    today who have lost everything they had in their homes, their
    businesses, their crops. And what I would say to them is we'll do what
    we can to help. But in the end, it is the inner strength of people and
    the support of the communities and families that will bring us through.
    But this will pass, and we have to keep looking to the future. That's
    what I sense in this crowd today, people who are willing to do that. I
    will do everything I can to make sure that this country does not forget
    about the people of Iowa and the other victims of the disaster, but
    we've just got to go on. We've got to pick up the pieces and

    [[Page 1075]]

    go on. That's what Americans do, and that's what we're going to have to
    do.
        Q. Can you help out, Mr. President, without busting the budget?
        The President. Oh, I think so. Keep in mind all these emergency
    appropriations do come as emergencies, that is, outside the budget. But
    you should be encouraged that since January because of our efforts to
    reduce the deficit in the next 5 years, because they've been successful,
    long-term interest rates have dropped rather dramatically. And our
    deficit this year is more than $20 billion less than it was estimated to
    be when I took office.
        So while a few billion dollars will add to it in this year, it will
    still be lower than everyone thought it was going to be, and it will not
    in any way affect the 5-year deficit reduction program now moving
    through Congress. So the people of Iowa don't need to feel guilty about
    taking this money; that's what it's there for. We've always done this. I
    think there is enormous bipartisan support in the Congress for this.
    There is no sense that this is something that should be held hostage to
    the budget negotiations. And we're going to do just fine on that, I
    think.
        Q. Mr. President, you were here 10 days ago. What are the
    differences now than 10 days ago when you were in Davenport?
        The President. A lot more water over more of the State and a lot of
    residential and business damage in addition to the agricultural damage.
    It is very substantial, and it changes the mix of what our
    responsibilities are. It also makes it a little more difficult to
    calculate right now, so we will ask in this bill that will go before the
    Congress for a significant amount of money, several hundreds of millions
    of dollars in contingency appropriations, over and above anything we've
    proved in direct damages, because we can't know for sure at this moment,
    and we won't know next week, although we care for every last eligible
    disaster loss. And that's very different from the way it was before.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:33 a.m. at the HyVee Food and Drug Store
    in the South Ridge Shopping Center. A tape was not available for
    verification of the content of these remarks.