Frank Lautenberg: “I listened carefully to our colleague from Louisiana and note a particular distinction that her State brings; that is…”

“I listened carefully to our colleague from Louisiana and note a particular distinction that her State brings; that is, the number of natural disaster problems that State has had and how diligently Senator Landrieu has fought to make sure that when we have a problem, we ask the government with a clear conscience to do its share in helping us cure the problem we get. On Sunday just passed, we marked the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. On that terrible day, 10 years ago, we were reminded that when tragedy strikes one part of our country, Americans pull together to respond. When our enemies and Mother Nature sends us their worst, Americans are at our best. In the wake of recent storms across the country, including Hurricane Irene in my State of New Jersey, we see this same American spirit of cooperation coming through. Unfortunately, we learned that the spirit of neighbor helping neighbor stops with our Republican colleagues. We saw a shameful display where all but a handful of Republican Senators voted to block consideration of an emergency disaster relief bill. They chose not to let our government do its share in curing a problem that enveloped much of the country. They have chosen to use disaster relief victims as pawns in their political gamesmanship. Make no mistake. The disaster relief bill is a critical lifeline to the families who are struggling to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives after Hurricane Irene.…”