Political Quotes

“I rise to bring to the Senate's and the Congress's attention a great challenge that we have before us relative to the budget of the Department of Homeland Security and, frankly, it is a challenge facing the entire budget of the United States. That challenge is to make sure we have enough funding in the disaster emergency account to cover the multitude of disasters that have taken place this year since January, as well as those we are still recovering from in the past. I will put up a chart to show, in dramatic fashion, that this is an unprecedented situation we are facing. Since January of this year, 36 States have had disasters declared. This may be the largest number of States in the shortest period of time, at least in recent memory, and potentially in history. This is a challenge to the budget because, as you know, under our law the Federal Government is by law--it attempts to be every day--a reliable and trustworthy partner for cities, towns, and States that have been devastated by tornadoes, wildfires, hurricanes, et cetera. Most recently, our minds, our eyes, and our hearts have been focused on Missouri, with the terrible devastation to several of their cities-- most notably Joplin. But we remember a few weeks ago the tornadoes that ripped through the southern part of the United States--in Alabama particularly, in Georgia, and in some parts of Arkansas; and there was flooding in other parts of the country as well.…”