Mark Pryor: “First, let me thank my colleague and friend from Illinois for his comments and his insights. He is fighting hard for his…”

“First, let me thank my colleague and friend from Illinois for his comments and his insights. He is fighting hard for his people in Illinois. We have similar stories in our State, and my guess is that virtually every Senator who is a Member of this body has a similar story where the people in these areas with levees are taxing themselves. They are taking on the responsibility to protect their property and their communities from floods. There is no doubt at all that these folks who live behind levees are in a better position than folks who are not behind levees, and the Flood Insurance Program should recognize that fact. In listening to Senator Durbin a few moments ago, I had a thought, and that is, if we are going to do this, if we are going to select the people in these darker areas on this map and we are going to say: Hey, just because you live in an area that has a levee, you are going to have to pay more, is not fair. I would prefer that we just make everybody pay. Why don't we make every mortgage owner in the country pay for this? Why don't we just say: Look, if you have a mortgage, you are going to have to pay $5 a month, or whatever the number is, just to help subsidize everybody else. That is a fairer way to do it. Why are we singling out people who live behind levees and dams and have other flood-control infrastructure there? It makes no sense. In fact, those people are more protected than other people.…”