Bill Clinton: “First of all, I didn't go down that far, but I did talk to some people about it. There are a couple of problems. One is…”

“First of all, I didn't go down that far, but I did talk to some people about it. There are a couple of problems. One is how to manage the outflow of water from the dam. The other is, to the extent we have any control over it, how to drain all this flooded farmland between here and the Mississippi River. See, you've got these tributaries that cause all the flooding around Des Moines, but you've got about a--well, from here to the Mississippi River you've got a whole swath of land that is totally flooded. So it's like you've got another big lake here that's 3 miles wide at its widest point. And to whatever extent we can control that, that needs to be drained in a way that doesn't just throw all the water back in at once and then down on the folks down river. So all that will have to be managed very carefully and by people who are expert in doing it. Secondly, with regard to the restaurant business, for the people who work there and the people who own it, you should check in at the disaster assistance centers and ask essentially about two things. One is what kind of Small Business Administration programs are there to help you, because there are some, and they are pretty significant. I think you'll find them pretty significant. And secondly, for the people who work for you who may have lost everything in terms of their ability to earn any income for a significant period of time, there are some individual disaster assistance programs that might be available to help them. And at the disaster assistance center, they can give you all that information. Mr. Mickelson. The cliche question is like this, Mr. President: Could you please cut spending first right after you send us the $3 billion? Talk to us about this. How will you be able to justify this level of expenditure to people who live in New Jersey?”