Jack Reed: “as indicated previously, I would like to make a short statement pertaining to the supplemental appropriations conference…”

“as indicated previously, I would like to make a short statement pertaining to the supplemental appropriations conference report before us. It is interesting, my colleague from Florida spoke about the lessons of Hurricane Katrina. One of those lessons is we have to be prepared. In Rhode Island, we worked with Chairman Cochran, Ranking Member Byrd, and also with Senator Harry Reid to incorporate within the supplemental appropriations bill an appropriation to help prepare our hurricane barrier in Providence, RI. I thank the chairman, Senator Byrd, and Senator Reid for this effort. Unfortunately, this provision did not survive the conference committee, and we are not able today to tell the people of Rhode Island that we are giving them much needed help to strengthen the Fox Point hurricane barrier. The Fox Point hurricane barrier literally is the protection that will preserve Providence, RI, and the surrounding areas from a devastating hurricane. It protects the city. It protects all the key resources there, such as the infrastructure. It is right at the head of Narragansett Bay. That is where Providence sits, and in a hurricane, if it roars up that bay, there is not much to stop it except this barrier. It was built in the 1960s. It was at that time a modern, state-of- the-art construction, but the years have intervened. It is no longer a state-of-the-art construction. It needs work. It needs the electro- mechanical system control system replaced.…”