On the recordNovember 30, 2012
I thank the gentleman, and I thank the Speaker for her leadership on this issue. But I thank the gentleman for his assurance that he's focused on this and is going to work on it. I look forward to working with him on this bill, which I think is a very important bill for us to get passed before we leave here. Lastly, obviously all of us know that Hurricane Sandy visited extraordinary damage on a large portion of the Northeast. I come from Maryland, and we were not very substantially damaged; but obviously New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut, in particular, were. Can the gentleman tell me--I know the administration has not come down with a number. That number, I presume, is going to be well north of $50 billion. In terms of the estimates that are being made, this is one of the five most damaging storms to hit the coast of the United States of America. I am wondering whether or not the gentleman might have in mind doing some interim figure in the next 3 weeks, before Christmas, substantially below what we know is going to be the ultimate figure. And then would the gentleman tell me whether or not, if we could do that, whether or not the gentleman would require that it be offset. And I yield to my friend.
