Political Quotes

“I rise and ask the House to support H.R. 6109, as amended, the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Act of 2008. H.R. 6109, the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Act of 2008, reauthorizes the Pre-Disaster Mitigation program for 3 years. The bill authorizes grants to States awarded on a competitive basis, except that each State, and this is important, each State receives a statutory minimum of $557,000 or 1 percent of the funds appropriated, whichever is less. In this way, the bill increases the minimum amount that each State can receive under the program from $500,000 to $575,000 and codifies the competitive selection process of the program, as currently administered by FEMA. The bill authorizes $250 million for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2011 for the Pre-Disaster Mitigation program. The PDM program was first authorized in the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. Pursuant to section 203(m) of the Stafford Act, the PDM program terminates on September 30 of this year unless Congress reauthorizes the program.”