Jeff Flake: “The gentleman mentioned that having these permanent disaster titles built into the budget would be a good thing so we…”

“The gentleman mentioned that having these permanent disaster titles built into the budget would be a good thing so we don't have the ad hoc disaster programs. I agree, it would be. But we've done that. That's how the last firm bill was sold to us; that yes, it's a bit bloated; yes, it's bigger than you'd like, but it's going to include disaster payment so we don't have to do ad hoc stuff anymore. We're going to build it into the budget. I read several quotes. There are several more. Let me just read one more. Representative Combest of Texas said, ``There is a safety net which is built into the program. I think, to my budget conscious colleagues, of which I am one, this is more of an honest way to deal with this problem than ad hoc disaster bill after disaster bill after disaster bill after disaster bill.'' Now, that sounds just like what we heard. This was in 2002. And we've had many ad hoc disaster bills pass since that time. I guarantee you, if we pass this, with this large disaster bill attached to it, we'll see more disaster bills after this time.”