Political Quotes

“Vermont and other the other States still reeling in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene have a huge stake in the misguided offset resolution sent to us by the House of Representatives. In fact, all Americans have a stake in this. On the heels of unprecedented flooding this spring, the State of Vermont bore the full brunt of Irene in August. Our small State is stretched to the limit right now. Our people need the helping hand of Federal disaster recovery programs just as Vermonters, decade after decade, have always supported this safety net when other States have needed it. These programs were already running on fumes before Irene and now the need is even greater in this tough year in which 48 States have had Federal disasters declared within their borders. The Senate promptly started the effort to replenish the depleted disaster funds with a strong and responsible stand-alone bill in September. Our legislation is within the bounds of the budget agreement reached this summer, and after overcoming a partisan filibuster, we got that bill through the Senate in a bipartisan vote. Now all these months later the House of Representatives sends us a smaller disaster aid bill along with a resolution that calls for the new disaster spending to be offset.…”