Political Quotes

“We are wasting way too much time on the floor. I am delighted that we finally have agreement to go to the bill. I thank you and Senator Shelby for leading us here today. Hurricane season in the Atlantic opens officially on June 1. Today is May 7. That is about 25 days from now--less than a month. Thousands of homes, actually tens of thousands of homes along our coast, from Florida up to New York, probably, and down around the gulf coast, are going to be at risk from flooding from what are likely to be more devastating storms. You don't have to live along one of our coasts to be at risk. Many will recall, earlier this year, parts of Missouri, parts of Illinois faced the worst flood they have seen in decades. In Government, we are often asked to respond to terrible natural disasters, and we do, providing, among other things, emergency shelter and financial aid for people who lost a lot, maybe in some cases have lost everything. Today, we are being asked to step up before the next disaster strikes by overhauling our Nation's flood insurance program. I was talking with a member of my staff walking over here about how long ago this National Flood Insurance Program was created. It has been 40 years. As I recall from my Bible study as a youngster, that is about how long Moses led the children of Israel through the wilderness trying to look for the Promised Land.”