Judd Gregg: “speaking to the Schumer-Clinton amendment, I wish to simply make the point that obviously all of us in the Northeast…”

“speaking to the Schumer-Clinton amendment, I wish to simply make the point that obviously all of us in the Northeast have experienced these very severe weather conditions which have led to floods. In New Hampshire, we are a little bit ahead of New York, regrettably. We had a huge storm earlier that led to major flooding throughout the State. I have to congratulate FEMA for their response. They have been very prompt. They have been on top of it. People who have made requests for reimbursement pursuant to the disaster declarations have received those funds, and we are getting a very effective and efficient response throughout New England, which all of New England was impacted, especially Massachusetts and New Hampshire. I know New York has gone through this experience, and, of course, the city of Washington has. I understand the Senators from New York wanting to make a point relative to the importance of having the resources to make sure when this type of disaster occurs there is money available to address the concerns of the communities that have been hit and the individuals who have been hit. This amendment, as it is presently structured, is not going to have any impact on the New York problem that exists today. That will be addressed by money that is already in the pipeline, that is in the disaster relief fund. The disaster relief fund has a very robust amount of money in it. It has $9.3 billion in it right now. This bill addresses 2007 disaster activity.…”