Mitch Landrieu: “Thank you, Mr. President. As I was saying, the letter goes on to say: I have paid enough in insurance premiums to…”

“Thank you, Mr. President. As I was saying, the letter goes on to say: I have paid enough in insurance premiums to rebuild my house out-of-pocket had it been completely destroyed. But again, when we try to get decent, affordable coverage for people, both for flood and wind, we are having a difficult time on this floor and in this Congress. So I hope as we continue to discuss through the afternoon the importance of this that people will understand and recognize that this amendment--there are several but this amendment regarding wind is very important so we can continue our recovery in the gulf coast. As I was saying before I was asked to pause for a minute, I recognize the foreclosure difficulties throughout the country, and I have said I am sensitive to the concerns of those communities. But I want to please remind everyone again: The people of the gulf coast do not have a foreclosure problem brought on by themselves. In fact, our foreclosure rate is lower, much lower than any--much lower than the national averages. But our people are getting their homes foreclosed and taken away from them because Federal levees that should have held failed and an insurance system we should have regulated has gone in large measure unregulated, and programs such as this that are supposed to be helping people afford insurance are not doing so. It is not right. Our people have nowhere else to go other than to Congress to help them get a better system in place.”