Political Quotes

“New Orleans is not the only place where tens of thousands of Americans stand in peril from flooding and drowning because of defective levees. The good people across three congressional districts along the Rio Grande River at the southernmost tip of Texas are just as much at risk with hurricane season only weeks away. That is why I will be offering today an amendment to prevent the next Katrina-like disaster. We Texans in the Valley must rely on the Federal Government, which has the exclusive, sole responsibility for ensuring the integrity of our levees and protecting our lives and livelihood from flooding. Exactly 1,018 days ago, this Administration received an alarming report from a part of its own State Department that those Federal levees are up to ``9 feet deficient in height,'' geologically flawed, structurally unsound, and would ``overtop along 38 river miles.'' So urgent is the problem that last year the Appropriations Committee asked the Administration to request additional levee money, and I believe the State Department wants to do this, but the President's request is strangely silent on this matter. Recognizing the risk of loss of lives, the disruption of families, the substantial economic harm that would be caused, 39 local governments, chambers of commerce and economic development corporations have called on this administration to act.…”