Political Quotes

“I hope that FEMA has $1.3 billion. It is going to need every penny of it to respond to Allison; every penny is going to be needed and then some to respond to Allison. In Upper Moreland Township in my State, 10 inches of rain fell in less than an hour. In a fully developed suburban community with too many parking lots and too many impervious surfaces, these small backyard creeks, the Pennypack, the Mill Creek, Little Neshaminy Creek, usually a couple of inches deep, maybe a couple of feet, became flooded 15 feet and 20 feet deep, stretching out hundreds of yards wide and flooded out whole neighborhoods. In my district, 1,200 homes were flooded, 200 businesses were flooded. Almost $5 million in damages to public facilities was incurred. This is a letter from Governor Ridge to President Bush asking for a Federal declaration of disaster to be issued. We have a major disaster in Philadelphia from the same storm that so badly affected Houston, Texas, and so many communities in between. This bill, which rescinds FEMA money, $389 million, is a terrible mistake.”