Political Quotes

“Saturday morning, I was in Alton, IL. This picture here is what we saw. You have to look closely to understand what I am looking at here. These grain elevators are in downtown Alton, IL, and this is the Mississippi River, which has now risen to the point that it is just below this red line. I know this red line a little bit because it marks the 1993 flood level of the same Mississippi River, so we are almost there. We were hoping over the weekend that the river would crest and that Alton and so many other communities in the Midwest would be spared further flooding. The interesting thing is, when I went down there to talk to the people engaged in the recovery effort and trying to help fight these floodwaters, there was an insight I was really surprised to hear. I asked them what is different about this flood, because we get lots of floods in the Midwest. The difference with this flood, according to those who have done the research, is this is a flood of longer duration than any flood we have seen since 1927. When I spoke to the mayor of the town of Alton, IL, I said: So this comes and goes? He said: It never goes, Senator. We have had six floods in the last 10 years that were supposed to be breaking historic records. So let's step back for a minute and take an honest look at this, if we can, and realize that we are living in a little different world this year than we did just a few years ago.…”