Sheila Jackson Lee: “To the distinguished gentlewoman, I come now to just stand on behalf of our delegation to be able to say, as I said…”

“To the distinguished gentlewoman, I come now to just stand on behalf of our delegation to be able to say, as I said earlier, I acknowledge the pain of Sandy. But I now come to make sure that we all understand that this first crunch is only the beginning. We are going to put in legislation that asks for $180 billion, recognizing the hard work of appropriators, and letting you know that people's lives, as we walk through the debris that is in front of every house--it is painful. It is long lasting. So I just wanted to come to give my thanks and to ask: Will you please stand with me for the long journey that is going to be needed for the infrastructure we build; new dams that are 30 years old; and housing issues that will not end today; and the massive eviction of people in apartments? Not cruelly, I hope, but they are getting eviction notices with no place to go. Mr. Speaker, so I ask that we as Americans join for the long haul, the long destiny, with prayers for all. I thank Mrs. Lowey for yielding to me so that we can talk about the long haul. God bless America.”