John Drake: “Madam Speaker, we have seen in the gulf region and now along the Mississippi River what can happen when hurricane and…”

“Madam Speaker, we have seen in the gulf region and now along the Mississippi River what can happen when hurricane and flood protection infrastructure is inadequate or fails to perform. Yet more Americans are moving to coastal areas where the risk of hurricanes and floods is great. In the south Atlantic region, the coastal population grew 51 percent from 1980 to 2000, and this trend is expected to continue. Along the Gulf of Mexico, the population has increased 38 percent from 1980 to 2000, and this trend is also expected to continue. We do not know where the next hurricane or flood will hit, but we do know that many of our major cities, including parts of Washington, D.C., have a greater probability of flooding than did New Orleans. For example, the City of Sacramento, California, has almost twice as many people as New Orleans; yet it has less flood protection than any other major city in America. Cities like Houston, St. Louis, and Miami also are at risk. We cannot treat citizens of these cities differently unless we have a policy reason that we can explain and justify to our constituents. As we have learned from recent levee failures, our infrastructure is aging.”