Political Quotes

“on Wednesday the House, we are told, will send us a continuing resolution to fund the government through November 18. I was disappointed to see the House shortchanged the Federal Emergency Management Agency. We have been told specifically what they intend to do and it is a real shortchange, by failing to provide the funding to adequately help Americans whose lives have been devastated by floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes. It is staggering to understand the depth of the concern people have. Yesterday morning I received a call from Kent Conrad, Senator from North Dakota, who proceeded to explain to me about a city in North Dakota by the name of Minot, a town of about 40,000 people. Twenty-five percent of the homes in Minot, ND, are underwater. Most of those underwater are ruined forever. These are not big mansions. They are homes people have lived in, sometimes for a very long period of time. Yesterday I was speaking to Senator Hoeven, who certainly knows North Dakota as well as anyone. He served as Governor there and is now in the Senate. We were talking about the flood. Of course, one of the things people are saying is: Why didn't Congress and the President plan for all this? As Senator Hoeven described in some detail, how do you estimate something that has never, ever happened before? Not a 50-year flood took place in North Dakota, not a 100-year flood, not a 500-year flood--it is something that has never happened, ever.…”