Peter Visclosky: “I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Madam Chair, I rise today to express my support for the underlying bill and the…”

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Madam Chair, I rise today to express my support for the underlying bill and the Frelinghuysen amendment, which will greatly assist the States and communities affected by Hurricane Sandy. In every year since 1997, with two exceptions, the Congress has recognized the need for emergency funds to respond to the impacts of natural disasters on the Nation's water resource infrastructure. This year should be no different. The Frelinghuysen amendment includes a total of $5.35 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers. Of that, about $1.8 billion will be used to repair existing Federal facilities that were damaged in the storm and to restore projects to design standards. The roughly $3.4 billion remaining will be used by the Corps for the construction of projects intended to reduce future flood risk. Additionally, the Frelinghuysen amendment provides $88.3 million to repair facility and equipment damage to Department of Defense facilities in several States along the eastern seaboard. This is what we should be doing as a Nation. It is far less expensive to invest in preventing damage than it is to clean it up. We need to fund projects that result in the long-term sustainability of the impacted communities and reduce the economic costs and risks associated with disasters. Madam Chair, our country has provided billions of dollars in infrastructure funding for dams, schools and roads in Iraq and Afghanistan on an emergency basis.…”