Political Quotes

“I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in yielding me this time. I have enjoyed listening to the debate back and forth. There is no area in Congress that I have spent more time on, over the course of the last 20 years, than dealing with flood insurance. I was the author of the last major piece with our former colleague, Doug Bereuter. I agree with much of what was said on both sides. There are remaining significant problems. Insurance is not priced properly. It is not that it is too expensive or it is too cheap, it is not priced properly. We have some winners and losers now, but too many people are subsidized by the majority. We are not doing all that we can. The Federal Government ends up holding the bag for billions of dollars for unnecessary flood damage with storm after storm after storm; and, by the way, there are more on the way. It doesn't have to be this way. Part of the problem is that because, inevitably, when we talk about reform, it costs money, and there are some people who end up paying more. It is easy not to update the maps. It is easy not to have people pay actuarial rates. It is easy not to force local governments to do their job and not allow building in harm's way. I strongly agree that, in times past, low-income and minority people were subjected to real problems and more flooding than they should have been. But now is the time to try and pivot and do something about it. Mr.…”