Bob Wise: “Today the House can help a lot of fathers, today; we do not have to wait until Sunday, on Fathers Day, by passing the…”

“Today the House can help a lot of fathers, today; we do not have to wait until Sunday, on Fathers Day, by passing the emergency flood relief bill. Today the House has a chance to do what should have been done many months ago, for fathers yes, mothers, children, a whole lot of other people, by passing a flood relief bill that helps West Virginia, Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, the Dakotas, the Midwest, California. The Senate has already agreed to take out the nonrelated matters, the things that do not have anything to do with flood relief. But yet the House has not yet gone along with that. But it can. Why are we arguing about how we shut the Government down or do not shut it down or the census, how we count in the year 2000? The fact is, if we do not pass this bill today, a lot of local governments may be shutting down and there may not be enough people to count in some of our flood-torn areas. If the House passes it today, West Virginians can begin rebuilding the river banks in Cabell and Putnam County. They can begin working on Herbert Hoover High School and the others that were damaged; farmers can begin getting that emergency assistance because they lost their fences and suffered other damage. If this bill does not pass today, Mr. Speaker, then Sunday a lot of fathers and their families can ask whether this leadership really cares.”