Paul Tonko: “Representative Garamendi, again, thank you for bringing us together again. You talked about that austerity budget that…”

“Representative Garamendi, again, thank you for bringing us together again. You talked about that austerity budget that some would advance. I have to tell you another disaster last year, Irene and Lee, that hit as a hurricane and tropical storm, impacted the several counties I represent, from Schoharie in upstate New York, to Montgomery, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Albany. These counties were severely impacted. To talk to the people directly devastated--I mean devastated, lost their homes, everything for which they ever worked--and to tell them we're going to change the rules in the middle of the game on disaster aid, it took fights galore to win that argument on this floor. That austerity approach didn't cut it with folks who might have believed it before the disaster, but certainly not in the midst of. So we need to be there for situations, not only disastrous situations, but the investment that occurs so that we can effectively compete. We know in our heart, we know in our minds that there are ways to do this. I know, just listening to the magnanimous description of the situation in the auto industry that Representative Kaptur defined for us, on a much smaller scale, but equally significant, I watched some of the businesses in my district retrofit and do that through research in incubator programs and providing for our advanced manufacturing which allows them to add that competitive muscle that enables them to compete in that global marketplace. That made a total difference.…”