Ted Budd: “I want to thank my friend Senator Tillis for his partnership not just for today but throughout this whole crisis in our…”

“I want to thank my friend Senator Tillis for his partnership not just for today but throughout this whole crisis in our State. Hurricane Helene represents one of the worst natural disasters ever to happen to our State--in particular, Western North Carolina. More than, as he mentioned, 100 people were killed and hundreds more injured, and some are still missing. Thousands of North Carolinians lost their homes and their family businesses. Every day that I was present in the region, I was stunned by the enormity of the damage. It is unlike anything I have ever seen. Now, I went to college at Appalachian State in Boone, and you learn very quickly how tough these mountain folks are. They are proud. They are self-sufficient people. The citizens of Western North Carolina are some of the toughest, most resilient people around. They don't look for handouts. They don't complain. So when there is a need like this, government needs to be ready, needs to be there to help them. They have to be able to access the loans from the SBA so they can continue to rebuild and recover their communities. Now, this program provides victims with low-interest loans to replace lost property or to rebuild their businesses or their homes or shops. This is very important because very few Helene victims--they don't have flood insurance, and it covers--you know, anything that covers a disaster of this magnitude.…”