Bill Clinton: “I have made three trips now to the Midwest during this flood. My Secretary of Agriculture and the Director of FEMA have…”

“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.”