Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, on January 20, 1996, eastern Ohio and the northern panhandle of West Virginia were struck with a disastrous flood. There are many residents in this area that are owners of mobile homes. Several of those homeowners transported their mobile homes to safe areas away from the rising water before the mobile homes were damaged. After this area was drained, after the flood waters receded, the owners then moved their homes back and in some cases attempted to move their homes back, because according to FEMA, these mobile homeowners must build expensive 12-foot-tall foundations if they want to move their homes back to the areas that were affected. Even though it was all along the Ohio River, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia in particular, this was called to our attention about this FEMA regulation by a local newspaper, the Wheeling Intelligencer. We were getting calls from not only Wheeling, WV, but Powhatan, OH, in particular. These are two areas, but I am sure this applies to many people along that entire Ohio River. In some cases the mayor in, for example, Powhatan, OH, Mayor Bell is forced to tell people, ``You can not bring your trailer back onto your land.'' Because if the mayor does not do that, aid is going to be cut to that municipality. So the intent is to let people come back onto their land.…”