William Tauzin: “I rise in support of this measure to provide aid to the victims in California. We, in Louisiana, suffered through…”

“I rise in support of this measure to provide aid to the victims in California. We, in Louisiana, suffered through Hurricane Andrew, and we are still recovering. Hurricanes are quite frequent in our area. I want to commend the folks in California who are struggling now to recover from their own natural disaster. I take this moment on the floor to remind the Members that in the flood plains of this country we are required to buy flood insurance. It is subsidized by the Federal Government, but our citizens are making a contribution up front to cover the cost of the disasters that come their way. There are bills in this Congress to make it more difficult for our people to afford that flood insurance. I urge the Members, please, as they consider this disaster in California, not to buy the argument that we ought to make it harder for people to buy insurance. If anything, we ought to help our friends in California buy earthquake insurance. We ought to consider our friends who live in tornado zones and encourage them to have wind and damage insurance. We ought to be helping each other in this country. I urge the Members to help these folks in California.”