David Price: “The fact that we are even debating the substance of this continuing resolution is a telling statement about the…”

“The fact that we are even debating the substance of this continuing resolution is a telling statement about the priorities of the current House majority. FEMA's disaster relief fund, after all, is operating on fumes. Since late August, the agency has deferred funding for all long-term rebuilding projects in order to have enough resources to meet the most pressing emergency needs. This means that critical rebuilding efforts in over 40 States--Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Iowa, North Dakota, Tennessee, Missouri, Alabama, my own State of North Carolina and others--are on hold. Thousands of people who would currently be earning a good paycheck by working on rebuilding efforts are not, and communities that are still recovering from past disasters are being told to move to the back of the line to make way for those affected by the more recent disasters. Madam Speaker, this Congress has a responsibility to make good on our promise to these communities by ensuring that FEMA has enough resources to respond to all major disasters. Regardless of where and when they occurred, we must not pit one State or one region against the other. The administration has made clear what it will take: a $500 million supplemental appropriation for the remainder of this fiscal year, and an increase of $4.6 billion above its initial request for fiscal year 2012. This CR includes $1 billion in supplemental fiscal 2011 funding, and a $2.65 billion downpayment toward fiscal 2012.…”