Political Quotes

“I rise to speak on the Red Cross and its campaign to encourage citizen preparedness for disasters. For 65 years, since the first proclamation by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Presidents of the United States have designated March as Red Cross Month. I am proud to support this year's proclamation in recognizing this great organization, whose activities include lifesaving courses, blood drives, sheltering families displaced by fire or flood, and responding to major disasters. This January, for example, Red Cross work in my home State of Maine included an urgent blood drive amid ice and snow that had reduced some hospitals' blood supply to a single day. Other Maine Red Cross workers were taking care of a seven-member family in the town of Skowhegan who had lost their home and possessions in a fire. I know the good works of the Red Cross both as a Maine resident and as a Senator. As ranking member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, I have worked closely with emergency management agencies and nonprofit organizations for years. I know the Red Cross has not only saved many lives and comforted millions but has taken steps to improve its structure and capabilities for disaster response. The record of recent years for terrorism, fires, earthquakes, floods, and other disasters underscores the need for preparedness not only at all levels of government but among individual citizens and families.”