Cliff Stearns: “the East Coast is currently being battered by Hurricane Bertha. As we all know, such disasters can occur at any time.…”

“the East Coast is currently being battered by Hurricane Bertha. As we all know, such disasters can occur at any time. The Midwest has been hit by floods in the past. The West Coast has been hit by natural disasters. Since Hurricane Hugo in 1989, the Federal Government has paid out over $67 billion on disaster relief. Insurance companies have also paid out over $33 billion since 1989. But now, Mr. Speaker, we have a bill that will help out. It is called the Natural Disaster Protection Partnership Act. It forges together Government and private entities to provide geographic areas insurance protection. This legislation will reduce cost and physical damage from natural disasters by requiring States to adopt improved enforcement of model building codes, and would also provide a grant program, financed by the private sector, to provide badly needed resources to implement preparation and loss reduction strategies. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, we should all support this initiative.”