Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank my colleague from California for her poignant, eloquent, and appropriate words. I thank the chair of our Homeland Security Subcommittee which handles FEMA disasters for the great work she has done. Mr. President, I spent several days, both this week and last week, visiting the places in upstate New York that were so badly damaged. Upstate New York is a large community. Without New York City and the suburbs we would still be about the eighth or ninth largest State, and the eastern half of upstate New York has been unexpectedly devastated not once but twice--first by Irene and then by Lee. It comes on top of an awful season. Because we have had so much rain and the ground has been so wet when these torrential rains occur--one a hurricane, one a tropical storm--no groundwater could be absorbed and it made things worse. Let me tell you a few of the things I have seen, just to share with my colleagues. We went to a small village in Schoharie County. Schoharie County is a beautiful agricultural, dairy county, and it is dotted by small towns like much of upstate New York. We have the third largest rural population in the country. Only Pennsylvania and North Carolina have larger rural populations than New York. We went down a beautiful street, a nice typical street. It could be a street you might see on an Ozzie and Harriet-type TV series. Every single house, street after street, had all its belongings piled in front.…”