    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [September 20, 1999]
    [Pages 1559-1562]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the Community in Tarboro, North Carolina
    September 20, 1999

        Thank you very much. Well, let me begin, ladies and gentlemen, by
    thanking Mayor Morris for welcoming me. And
    I thank Mayor Perkins from Princeville. I flew
    over there and saw all the houses still buried underwater. I want to
    thank all the city officials, all the county officials,

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    all the State officials for the magnificent job that they have done, the
    lives they've saved, and all the things they've done to try to ease your
    way.
        I'd like to thank the Members of Congress who came with me today.
    Your Congresswoman, Eva Clayton, when she was
    speaking, I started to call her ``Reverend Clayton,'' she did such a
    good job. [Laughter] She talks to me just like that in Washington all
    the time. If she wants something for you, she comes in the White House
    and talks to me just like she did today. And Congressman David
    Price, Congressman Bob Etheridge, I want to thank them, too.
        I want to thank the members of my administration who came here, and
    I'd like to introduce them to you. This is Secretary of Transportation
    Rodney Slater; Secretary of the Army Louis
    Caldera. They did a lot of work for us; he's
    back here behind me. I want to thank the military, the Administrator of
    the Small Business Administration--they'll be doing a lot of work up and
    down this street--Aida Alvarez. And I want to
    thank the people who have spoken before for their praise of the Director
    of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, James Lee Witt. Thank you.
        I also want to thank my good friend Governor Jim Hunt. You know--I know all of you know this anyway, but he
    is in the process of completing a term, after which he will have served
    16 years as Governor of North Carolina. And I served 12 years as
    Governor of my State--would have made 2 more if you hadn't been good
    enough to send me to Washington. [Laughter] And I can tell you, it will
    be--next January will be 21 years since I started working with Jim
    Hunt--21 years. We didn't have so much gray hair back then. [Laughter]
    He is the finest Governor in this country and a ferocious advocate. So I
    will do my best to do what he wants so that I will not have to put up
    with him camping out on the White House lawn to get help for you.
        Let me say, if there's one thing I've learned visiting so many
    natural disasters, as the President and, before that, for a dozen years
    as a Governor, is that no matter how much television there is, it
    doesn't do it justice. Because it can't show what it feels like inside
    for people to lose a business they've put everything into; to people who
    lose their home when they have to take their kids to a shelter and not
    know where they're going to spend the night next week; for farmers to
    have labored for 4 years and see a crop totally destroyed by water or
    the Sun and not know whether they can keep their land or wonder if they
    can ever buy seed again.
        And that's why we have organized all these emergency measures,
    because--Jim Hunt and I were laughing;
    you know, we worked so hard to build the economy and to improve
    education and to protect the environment and take care of the health
    care needs and all of that, but as all the pastors out here in the
    audience know, every once in a while something happens that proves to
    you no matter how hard you work, you are never completely in control.
    And we are not completely in control.
        So that when things like this happen to some of us, we know they
    could happen to all of us. And our country--first of all, our thoughts
    and prayers are with you. And secondly, we know we have a responsibility
    as members of the American family to help you get back on your feet
    again, and we intend to do it.
        Now, the Federal Government has already worked very hard with the
    Coast Guard and others. We've been involved with your local people. I
    believe we think we saved almost a thousand lives. Too many people have
    died here, and not everyone is accounted for. And Governor Hunt told me
    today, you're still rescuing people that have been accounted for. But
    there are a lot of people alive today; and with all the loss, we can
    thank God that there are people who are alive who might not otherwise
    have been because of the efforts people have made.
        So we're going to do what we can to help. And I want to tell you
    some things we can do in the very short run. We have already authorized
    FEMA to provide for direct Federal assistance to clean up the 66
    counties in North Carolina that have been hurt. Today the Department of
    Agriculture will approve a disaster food stamp program to help people
    who need help to get food for their families. And people who need it
    ought to take it. There's nothing to be ashamed of here; people who need
    it ought to take it.
        Today the Department of Agriculture--all they can do for the
    farmers, and that's what--is to offer the low-interest loans. Some of
    the bigger farmers, that'll be enough. Some of the family farmers will
    be ruined, not just here but in other places. And I'm going to do what I
    can to see that the emergency farm bill, which was drawn up to deal with
    the drought and

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    historic low grain prices overseas, includes the victims of the horrible
    drought and then the floods on the east coast, from North Carolina all
    the way up the east coast, where our farmers are.
        The Department of Labor has authorized $12 million for temporary
    jobs and to assist in cleanup and restoration activity. People who need
    them ought to try to get them. The money is designed not only to help
    you clean up but to help people who are out of work and need some
    immediate income to get it. And if there's more needed, we'll try to get
    more down here.
        The Small Business Administration has authorized disaster loans for
    homeowners to repair or replace damaged property and loans for
    businesses to repair property, equipment, and inventory and provide
    companies--this is important--and provide companies with adequate
    capital until they can resume normal operations. And that's very, very
    important, so you all need to take advantage of these things.
        FEMA has set up an 800 number for victims of the flood. And people
    who are eligible for the individual relief programs should call the
    hotline, the FEMA hotline, which is 800-462-9029. For the reporters in
    the audience, please put this in the paper; that's 800-462-9029.
        Now, the next thing that we've got to do is to deal with the housing
    problem, which is a huge, huge problem. Some people are insured against
    the floods; and we just learned today apparently, because of blanket
    policies, but most people who have been flooded out, as has already been
    said, were not in any flood plain. Some of you are in a 500-year flood
    plain; nobody gets insured for that. Many people beyond the 500-year
    flood plain--which means if you got flooded out, it shouldn't happen
    again for another 600 or 700 years--we know you'll be prepared.
    [Laughter]
        Now, for you, there are--and a lot of people here are low income
    people that don't have much money. Now, the people that can't repay any
    kind of loan can qualify for cash assistance, and everybody can qualify.
    We're going to try to do what we did in North Dakota, which is to get as
    many trailers as possible available for people to live in that can be
    taken to their property and plugged in, so people can supervise either
    getting another trailer if they were living in a trailer, or rebuilding
    their homes while they're onsite.
        For those who don't want to do that and who need help, there are
    cash funds that are available to help you live somewhere else and other
    help available to buy furniture and do things of that kind. You need to
    make sure, as soon as you can, if you lost your home, as soon as these
    centers are clearly up and open--and I know a lot of you are dying to
    move out of these shelters, but it has got to be safe and the water has
    got to go down first--but you need to make sure that you know where the
    application centers are; that you go in, you figure out what you're
    eligible for.
        Now, what we have to do is go back to Washington and complete the
    assessment of not only how much damage was done here, the worst place,
    but also in Virginia, which was hit pretty hard, and all the way up to
    New Jersey and New York, which were hit pretty hard. And then we've got
    to figure out if we have enough money to deal with the present problem.
    We know we need extra help for the farmers, but we've got to look and
    see if we've got enough extra money. Secretary Slater and I saw some roads that were washed out. It costs money
    to fix some roads that were washed out. It costs money to fix those
    roads. We've got to make sure we've got the funds necessary to do what
    needs to be done. If we do, well, we'll flow them; if we don't, we'll go
    back to Congress and try to get some more.
        But the American people know that no individual can handle this
    alone, and our community ought to be doing this together. So let me say
    finally, I have been--as always, but particularly today--profoundly
    impressed by the spirit of the people here. One of the ministers over
    there, who looks like a professional weight lifter, by the way--
    [laughter]--has got a shirt on that says, ``Too blessed to be
    stressed.'' [Laughter] And I want you to keep that attitude.
        Man, I can only imagine what it's like, especially for those of you
    with young children, spending night after night in the shelters with all
    these people, some of whom you know, some of whom you don't; everybody
    is bumping up against everybody else. You get tired of the prepared
    meals; you wonder where you're really going to be able to go. I know
    it's frustrating.
        But we've got to wait until the water goes down. Then the mayor has
    got to be careful--both these mayors--before the water can be turned on
    again, to make sure that it's safe,

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    that the supply hasn't been contaminated. There are just things that
    have to be done.
        So I urge you to keep your spirits up and know we're going to be
    with you every step of the way. Know that you have strong advocates in
    your local officials, your wonderful Governor, and your very vigorous congressional delegations that are
    represented here. We're going to stay with you until you get back on
    your feet again, as long as it takes.
        Thank you, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:27 p.m. on Main Street. In his remarks,
    he referred to Mayors Donald A. Morris of Tarboro and Delia Perkins of
    Princeville, NC.