Max Baucus: “While I will vote for this bill, I will do so with great reluctance. In the last 5 years, we were hit by a number of…”

“While I will vote for this bill, I will do so with great reluctance. In the last 5 years, we were hit by a number of major disasters. The Loma Prieta earthquake. Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki. The L.A. riots in 1992 and the Midwest floods last summer. Most recently, the Los Angeles area earthquake. The costs of these disasters have gone through the roof. Madam President, we hear a lot about the need to cut spending. That need is real. And one way to do it is to reexamine our approach to disaster funding. I sympathize with the victims of the California earthquake. My own State of Montana has experienced natural disasters--the harsh winters, seemingly countless droughts and the devastating wildfires in the Yellowstone region, for example. So I do not suggest that Californians are not suffering tremendously because of this disaster. I am suggesting, though, that we must find a better way to prepare and pay for disasters. Each year we appropriate disaster relief funds. But we never have enough to cover the actual costs of a major disaster. That is why we continue to find ourselves appropriating additional funds on an emergency basis. We do not think ahead. Instead we wait, then just take out our national credit card and run up the bill.”