Chris Sununu: “if I might momentarily reserve the right to object, Mr. Baucus, the Senator from Montana, has given a powerful…”

“if I might momentarily reserve the right to object, Mr. Baucus, the Senator from Montana, has given a powerful description of people who are in great need of help. There is no question about that. Many of the States that are affected and other States have taken steps to provide help in many areas, to set up uncompensated care funds to provide assistance to evacuees. I think the Senator from Montana would argue that it is not enough, he would like to do more, and his intention is obviously to bring this bill to the floor to deal with some of these concerns. I have spoken before on this and will not speak at great length now. I do not believe this bill is the right way and the best way to address those concerns. It has a cost of $9 billion. It does include provisions for assistance to States regardless of whether they have evacuees located in them, regardless whether they were hit by the hurricanes. I and other Members have been working with Senator Grassley and Senator Baucus and their staffs to try to come to some agreement, but that has not happened. The question is not whether we should or want to provide assistance, but we want to make sure we do it in a way that ensures that resources get where they are most needed and in a way that takes advantage of the $45 billion or so that has already been appropriated but has not been committed yet. So I do object to the unanimous consent request.…”