Frank Lautenberg: “Once again, I say to my colleague from Illinois, I agree fully with the response that was elicited, because of the…”

“Once again, I say to my colleague from Illinois, I agree fully with the response that was elicited, because of the nature of the question. It is our Nation. It is a national goal. It is a national objective and we have to keep that in mind. I know the Senator from Illinois shares my view that when an emergency comes in our country, and whether it be floods or earthquakes or tornadoes, our hearts are breaking here. I say, this was across party lines, both parties. When we saw the people in North Dakota and South Dakota and States like that during the flood, I never voted against funding for FEMA, for our Federal Emergency Management Agency, or those actions that were taken to get a community restored after a natural disaster. It is then and then only, it seems, that we are reminded that we are a national unit, that we are a national federation, that we are one country. Suddenly we will spring into action when it comes to relieving the distress that results from a natural disaster; a consequence. We have to keep that in mind when we look here at what we are doing on the floor of the U.S. Senate today.”