[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
[July 29, 1993]
[Pages 1235-1236]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks in the Flood Aid Telethon
July 29, 1993

    The President. I have made three trips now to the Midwest during 
this flood. My Secretary of Agriculture and the Director of FEMA have 
been there many, many more times. We've seen so many people who have 
lost their homes, their farms, their businesses, but they are carrying 
on very, very bravely.
    Here in Washington, we're working hard to get a multibillion dollar 
emergency aid package through the Congress to help rebuild the 
communities, the businesses, the homes, to help to provide basic 
assistance. But the Federal Government can't do it all. Our country 
always has had a system in which the National Government would come to 
the need of States and communities and citizens when they needed help, 
but we've never been able to cover all the costs, and we won't be able 
to now. That's why we need your help.
    The Red Cross has done a magnificent job; so has the Salvation Army; 
so have the churches and the other community groups; so have thousands 
of people, young and old and all in-between, who have come to help. But 
we need your help. And I hope that you, too, will contribute whatever 
you can afford to help these wonderful Americans put their lives back 
together. They need your encouragement and your support. We'll do our 
part. We need you to help, too.
    Q. [Inaudible]
    The President. The aid should be there very soon. Of course, some of 
the emergency aid is there now. The Federal Emergency Management Agency 
and the Department of Agriculture have been giving cash and food stamps 
to people who are totally out of all resources and money. But the big 
aid will be there just as quickly as we can get it through the Congress. 
I think it will happen very soon. And we're all set up to move the 
checks out very quickly, I think within a couple of weeks after I can 
sign the

[[Page 1236]]

bill. And that should be just in the next day or so.
    In terms of the long run, we've already got a group established to 
look at that. I met with the Governors of the affected States here in 
the White House just a couple of days ago, and we're going to work hard 
in the long run, too. I don't want this to happen again to you or to 
anybody else.
    Q. [Inaudible]
    The President. There is an 800 number that gets several thousand 
calls a day just from Iowa, down in Texas. If you don't have it, I will 
arrange to have it called in while the telethon is going on. We've tried 
to set up a one-stop telephone so that all Americans who are affected by 
the flood could call. We're going to do our best, as I said, to take 
care of this and also to take care of the long-term problems. I can't 
control the weather, but we're going to work hard to help you.

Note: The President spoke at 8:15 p.m. via satellite from the Library at 
the White House. A portion of these remarks could not be verified 
because the tape was incomplete.