Political Quotes

“I want to thank the gentleman from Alabama for yielding. Mr. Speaker, there are fundamental problems with flood insurance. We all know that. The program, by some estimates, has a debt, recently, of up to $24 billion, and it is going to be compounded by Hurricanes Maria, Irma, and Harvey and the other disasters that we have had this year. We have had extraordinary damages this year. But what is being missed is that this legislation really doesn't even fix the problem. You can look back over the last 37 years. Since 1980, we have had 218 disasters that have exceeded $1 billion. We have spent $1.3 trillion responding to these disasters. This bill is projected to, perhaps, save $18 million a year--$18 million, I will say it again. We have spent $1.3 trillion since 1980. There are fundamental problems that need to be addressed. Mr. Speaker, 40 percent of this Nation's population lives in just 10 percent of the land area adjacent to the coast--10 percent. Forty percent of the population lives there, and it is growing. It is going up. We have got to get good at resiliently living in these coastal areas. Now, let me show you something, and this is what is happening in Louisiana. Louisiana drains, literally, from Montana to New York, and the Canadian Provinces are all coming down. Mr. Speaker, as we get additional development in the United States, what happens with that water? It comes down to us. So let me give you a scenario.…”