Political Quotes

“I voted to support funding our Nation's disaster relief programs for an additional year. However, I remain unsatisfied by the work Congress has engaged in this year regarding our Nation's budgeting for disaster. The funding we included this year for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers is significant, but it is likely that the cost of next year's disasters outstrip even those significant sums. Worldwide, disasters last year caused a record $350 billion in damage, much of it not covered by insurance. In the U.S., two storms alone--the tornadoes of April and May--in the Southeast cost more than $14 billion. These losses were absorbed by those who suffer from the disaster, by insurers, and by Federal agencies. In the end, the taxpayers are on the hook to protect our communities, to aid those who have lost loved ones, homes, and possessions, and to rebuild what is lost. The amount we have appropriated this year will be insufficient to accommodate these tasks in the year ahead; when the money runs out, Congress will have to take action in an emergency setting to ensure an adequate Federal response. What is needed is not merely an increase in these budgets. Congress must find the time and resources to focus on prevention, and to strengthen the programs that minimize this damage when inevitable storms and disasters befall us.…”