Political Quotes

“I know we have pending the supplemental appropriations bill. I urge my colleagues to act on this as quickly as we can. Sandy was a devastating storm. Eight million people were without power. There were over 100 deaths, including 7 in the State of Maryland. Maryland was hit hard, not as hard as New Jersey or New York--and our prayers go out to all the communities that have been affected--but Maryland was hit pretty hard. We had sustained winds for hour after hour after hour after hour. We had rainfall records--9 inches. We had storm surges with 7 foot waves. We had flooding of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. We had a storm in the western part of our State that dropped 30 inches of wet snow. So we suffered from the flooding on the Eastern Shore and the storms in western Maryland. In many of the communities, people who live below the poverty line are elderly. Senator Mikulski was just on the floor and talked about the circumstances in the city of Crisfield. In that city, 32 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. Mr. President, 585 homes were severely damaged, 71 sustained major damage. The watermen, which is one of the major industries for that community, found that they were literally unable to work, and they are still unclear as to what is going to happen to their crops. We have a serious problem. I will give you just two examples of people who have lived through this storm.…”