I am going to truncate my remarks to 5 minutes. I came to speak on the supplemental and the great needs in the Northeast. Generally, because I know there are other Senators who have other items to discuss, I will come back at a later time…

Senator Leahy has been handling this bill for the last 24 hours or so, and I came to the floor earlier to speak about the supplemental. I gave truncated remarks because Senator McCain had personal remarks to make on behalf of his colleague…

If the Senator would yield, the Senators here, the Senators from Oregon and Michigan, just wanted 1 minute to get in their amendment, and then I would speak for a few minutes and then Senator McCain. Would that be all right? The PRESIDING…

I would be happy to accommodate other Senators, but I came to the floor to speak for about 10 minutes on the supplemental. I see Senator McCain. I don't know if he came to speak on Senator Inouye or on the supplemental. Senator Merkley and…

for those of us in the Chamber, and those of us listening, that was one of those beautifully crafted and beautifully deliberated and eloquent statements not only about a Member's service as a Member of the U.S. Senate, but a vision of the…

I come to the floor today to speak on an issue that is of great importance to my home State of Louisiana: Federal disaster assistance. As you know, along the Gulf Coast we keep an eye trained on the Gulf of Mexico during hurricane season…

I do not think the Federal Government can do it all, but I do think the Federal Government can be a big supporter in this effort.

But I do think that the insurance is required, and very important, because this is really the Federal Government is helping to fill the gap, helping to step up and provide some funding quickly and in advance.

I think all those days are behind us, I hope, and I hope we will hear testimony that the red tape has been eliminated, that we are not requiring survivors to produce multiple copies of tax records that, in many cases, were lost in the…

I hope these will come in handy this time around.

It is difficult to make decisions, particularly when you do not know what your neighbors are doing or what the business next door is doing, and people may need more time.

My eyes are going to be for the next year, with the help of this committee, and I think I have the support of both Republicans and Democrats on this, on the results of getting loans quickly into the hands of businesses or grants.

there will be no recovery without small businesses recovering.

If the people do not have confidence that at least their local leaders have been given access to serious money, and $60 billion is a serious amount of money, they will lose hope.

As Chair of this committee and a Senator from one of the hardest hit States in recent years, I believe that one of the most important responsibilities of our committee is to ensure that the SBA be fully staffed, better prepared, and ready…

I believe that the sooner we pass the $6.4 billion supplemental, which provides absolutely essential mitigation, help for small businesses, homeowners, and most importantly, flexible community development disaster grants is absolutely…

It is very important to get these nonprofit organizations back up. They will become the leaders, of course, in the recovery.

It would be penny wise and pound foolish to give LIPA $800 million without helping harden and modernize an electric grid that will stand up to the next storm.

Decisions will be made about whether we rebuild smarter or stronger, and we can't go back and restart those plans 6 months from now.

We all know and Senator Lautenberg could attest to how important the economy of the shore is in New Jersey.

Do you agree that funding should be allocated to States and by States on the basis of damage and unmet disaster-related needs, and not based only on income level?

I don't know what--so no one has applied. I wouldn't either. It's of no use whatsoever.

What would $5 million help the City of New Orleans, when 80 percent of our operating revenue disappeared overnight?

In my opinion the President could not have appointed a better person to lead the long-term recovery.

Let's use this opportunity to get that straight, because there are going to be lots of debris in these marshes, rivers, wetlands, and islands along this east coast.