Trent Lott: “I know that the distinguished chairman and the ranking member want to move forward on this legislation. I do not want to…”

“I know that the distinguished chairman and the ranking member want to move forward on this legislation. I do not want to delay their proceedings, but I will take just a moment. I will take advantage of the opportunity to put a statement in the Record. I think it is important that we acknowledge the importance of this relatively small bill as we try to recover from the hurricanes we are dealing with. I think we must give credit to the chairman of the Governmental Affairs and Homeland Security Committee, Senator Collins from Maine, the ranking member, Senator Lieberman from Connecticut, to the leadership of the distinguished Senator from Florida, and Senator Martinez, who knows full well the things we are dealing with in the recovery from these disasters. His own State has been hit once again. Mother Nature can be a very devastating vixen when you don't anticipate the kind of damage you wind up with. Also, I thank the Democrats and their leadership for helping clear this legislation. I thank and acknowledge Senator Vitter's and Senator Landrieu's involvement in all these efforts. It is hard to get anything done in the Senate these days. It is the way our body functions. And we all question everything, legitimately. But we got it done. I would like to give credit to both sides and to all of those involved. This just has four or five important things. They are important. People are hurting, and this will help us get through this recovery period.…”