Political Quotes

“I stand before you today because my district recently suffered severe flooding this spring and summer which we are now just beginning to recover from. The flooding of the Mississippi River, caused by an unusual amount of rain from back-to- back storms, left thousands of Tennesseans with flood damage. In my district alone, over 3,000 homes were damaged by storms and floods, and over 4,000 registered for disaster assistance. Because the Mississippi River borders 110 miles of Tennessee's Eighth Congressional District, many small towns and farms are subject to unpredictable flooding each year. With this in mind, I am pleased to support H.R. 1309 today. H.R. 1309 reauthorizes the National Flood Insurance Program for 5 years, which would provide some certainty for the economy and to the national housing market. During a period of 9.2 percent unemployment, we need this certainty to boost the housing construction industry and to help create badly needed jobs. Another reason I am supporting H.R. 1309 today is this legislation encourages greater private sector participation in the National Flood Insurance Program. Madam Chairman, if we are to reduce Federal spending and the size of government in our lives, we need to put every program on the table and analyze ways we can encourage the private sector to shoulder more government risk. I am pleased to support H.R. 1309 and encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill.”