    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [October 18, 1999]
    [Pages 1813-1815]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Assistance for Areas Affected by Hurricane Floyd and an
    Exchange With Reporters in Newark, New Jersey
    October 18, 1999

        The President. I want to begin my visit to New Jersey by announcing
    several steps our administration is taking, either today or previously
    over the weekend, to deliver Federal assistance to the citizens in the
    communities of New Jersey that were hurt and are recovering from the
    flood damage caused by Hurricane Floyd. We're doing all we can, and I
    hope these steps will help.

    [[Page 1814]]

        Earlier today, I directed the Department of Health and Human
    Services to release $5 million in LIHEAP funds to New Jersey for energy-
    related damage caused by the hurricane. The Low Income Energy Assistance
    Program makes funds available for emergency use to help at-risk families
    in times of weather distress and in the aftermath of natural disasters.
    The State can use the funds for utility repairs, for furnace and air
    conditioning replacement, for the removal of damaged insulation, and for
    energy costs related to the crisis.
        Initially over the weekend, the Department of Housing and Urban
    Development announced the early availability of approximately $34
    million in HUD community development block grants for the counties hit
    hardest by Hurricane Floyd. These expedited funds, which normally would
    have been released in January of 2000, can be used by communities now
    for disaster recovery and for repairs to both homes and businesses--I
    know this has been a big issue up here--as well as to water and sewer
    facilities.
        Last, on Saturday the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced
    a lump sum rental assistance of up to $10,000 for individuals whose
    homes were damaged in the hurricane. We will continue to do all we can
    to help, and I hope that these measures will be particularly helpful. I
    have been following this very closely. I know there's been a lot of
    concern up here, particularly from businesses who felt that they needed
    more help than just the low-interest loans could provide. So I hope this
    early release of community development block grants will give them the
    help that they need.

    Budget Negotiations

        Q. Mr. President, do you expect Republicans to make any concessions
    at your budget summit tomorrow?
        The President. Well, I don't know. What I would like to see is the
    return to the spirit of working together that we had in 1996 and 1997
    and 1998. We had plenty of arguments, but we banded together in all
    those 3 years to pass good budgets. We passed the welfare reform; we
    passed the Balanced Budget Act of '97; and we passed the remarkable
    budget in 1998 that, among other things, contained the 100,000 teachers.
    In the balanced budget, we had the HOPE scholarships, which have opened
    the doors of college to virtually all Americans--first balanced budgets,
    back-to-back, in 42 years. So there has been this year something that I
    hoped we wouldn't have; there's been a return almost to the spirit they
    had in 1995. I don't understand that, and I thought that I did
    everything I could to reach out my hand to them early in the year to try
    to get the country back together, and I still hope we'll do that.
        I still think that it's almost inexplicable that we're going through
    these really good times, and some people see good times as a luxury to
    indulge in division and diversion. To me, they impose an obligation to
    make the most of them. So you know, I'm just going to reach out a hand
    of friendship and hope that we can work together. We've done it on one
    of these bills, the VA/HUD bill. I think is quite a good bill, based on
    what I understand of it, and we can do it throughout. We can work
    through all of this if we just have the right attitude. I'm going to
    bring my right attitude to the meeting.

    Vieques Island

        Q. Sir, have you had a chance to consider the military's report on
    the Vieques Island?
        The President. I have not. I think it's just been released. But I do
    know that Secretary Cohen said that he
    wanted to have further discussions and to try to talk to the leaders
    down in Puerto Rico, which is what I think ought to be done. The best of
    all worlds here would not only reach a good result, but it would reach a
    good result in a good way, and we would have a process which would
    restore a sense of trust and partnership between Puerto Rico and the
    Pentagon. An enormous number of Puerto Ricans have served with great
    distinction in the American Armed Forces, and to have the whole island,
    starting with the Governor and Congressman
    Romero-Barcelo feel estranged from
    the Pentagon, not only over this but over the way the memorandum of
    understanding has developed since 1983, I think is a very bad thing.
        So it may be that something good can come from this, and I think the
    fact that Secretary Cohen wants to actively
    reach out to the Governor and to that
    committee that has been appointed down there and have further
    discussions with them before making some sort of final recommendation to
    me is quite a good thing, and that's what I'm looking forward to.

    [[Page 1815]]

    Hurricane Floyd Disaster Assistance

        Q. Mr. President, a lot of the frustration of the people in New
    Jersey over the flood situation is that--a lot of them have said this to
    me--is that when natural disasters occur, one, they're given grants very
    quickly, but they're saying, ``Hey, here we are in the United States,
    and we have to deal with loans, SBA loans, and keep waiting and
    waiting.''
        The President. That's why I gave this community development block
    grant money early, because this money can be used as grants to do this
    kind of work. And I've been following this very closely. We spend a lot
    of money, if you will, in grants in America, but most of it is in
    repairing public facilities and in helping people get through immediate
    emergencies, which is about all we can do overseas as well. But under
    unusual circumstances, we've seen this in other places.
        In North Dakota, when they had that terrible flood--you remember in
    Grand Forks--we were able to release some community development block
    grant funds, which they were able to use not only for individuals but
    also for businesses who were so devastated that the low-interest loans
    were not enough.
        So I'm hoping that this announcement I've made today will respond
    directly to what I have heard from the people of New Jersey needs to be
    done.

    Note: The President spoke at 6:37 p.m. at Newark International Airport.
    In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Pedro Rossello of Puerto Rico. A
    tape was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.