Dick Durbin: “this morning there was a scene on television I had never seen before. In fact, the commentators said they had never seen…”

“this morning there was a scene on television I had never seen before. In fact, the commentators said they had never seen it either. I might preface this by saying I grew up in the Midwest. Tornadoes are a part of our lives. I cannot recall how many times I was rousted out of my bed in the middle of the night as the sirens were going on outside and mom and dad would take me to the basement. That is what we did as I grew up in the Midwest. Tornadoes were part of our lives. This morning showed what happened in Nebraska yesterday to be a virtually unique occurrence--twin tornadoes came ripping through the State of Nebraska killing people and destroying lives and businesses and homes and farms. There was a reflection on this about how the weather seems to be getting more extreme in this country. Are we getting more and more extreme weather events, many of which are very destructive? I think the clear answer is yes. Don't trust a politician or even an environmentalist for that answer. Go to the people who do this for a living. That is what I did. I held a hearing and called the leaders from the property and casualty insurance companies. They do this for a living, and they said not only are we getting more extreme weather events, they are much more expensive than ever before. The destruction is much larger. So many insurance companies, because of these extreme weather events, are starting to charge higher premiums and backing off of coverage.…”