Political Quotes

“I thank the Senator from Louisiana for the question, but most of all I thank her for her energetic leadership on this issue; she will help us find the right way forward. I am here today because of what I am hearing from families in Massachusetts. I also thank the Senator from Mississippi. This is something that is hitting us all around the country--this change in the flood maps. So I am here today to support my colleagues' bipartisan efforts to help homeowners across the country who are getting hit with newly revised flood maps and increased flood insurance premiums. Families purchase flood insurance to prevent the loss of their homes during a natural disaster, but now many of these same families fear that the price of flood insurance could be just as devastating and could actually cost them their homes. I understand why Congress changed the national flood program to more accurately reflect the true costs and risks of flood damage, and I agree that over time we need to move to a more market-based system for setting flood insurance rates, providing we adequately take into account the affordability concerns for working families. But that is not what is happening right now. These new maps and rate increases are having as big an impact as a big storm. When FEMA released these flood maps earlier this year and last, they knew they were placing hundreds of thousands of homeowners into a flood zone for the very first time. Yet there was inadequate warning to homeowners.…”