Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, on August 28 of this August, Hurricane Irene left a path of destruction from the Carolinas to Vermont. The districts of 55 of our colleagues were hit and hit hard. And that storm did damage without regard to partisan affiliation or income distribution. If you were in the path of that storm, you suffered. The 55 Members of Congress who were affected by it created the Hurricane Irene Coalition, Republicans and Democrats, and we are united in the single goal of getting the aid to our people back home that they need to get back on their feet. Hurricane Irene, Mr. Speaker, saved its greatest fury to the end, when it descended upon Vermont. It was the biggest damaging storm that we've had in 100 years. We lost 700 homes of hardworking Vermonters, many of whom had no flood insurance, 260 roads and 30 bridges were impassable, 13 communities were entirely cut off. The good news was that the Vermont response is extraordinary. People came together. They started a school on the town green in Pittsfield when they were unable to go north or south because the road was cut off. Then when the main artery was reopened so school buses could pass but they couldn't get out on their road, they got their chainsaws out and cut a half-mile path through the woods so the kids could get to school. That's the kind of spirit that we find in our districts, and I'm very proud of Vermont, and all of our colleagues are as well. Mr.…”