OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Providing for Consideration of H.R. 152, Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013

Floor Speech

Date: Jan. 15, 2013
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Government Budget and Spending Environment

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Ms. DeLAURO. I rise to express my strong support for this long overdue, this much-needed $51 million in disaster relief.

Sandy was one of the most severe storms to hit Connecticut in our history. We are asking, we are pleading--and we shouldn't have to beg--for money for the Northeast to be able to survive this tragedy that hit us.

We need to make available the disaster aid. Families in the Northeast need to recover, repair from Superstorm Sandy, just as we have in the past from other disasters across the country. This is one of the central responsibilities of this institution, to act on behalf of the American people after a natural disaster.

I hope that we make sure that all the States affected by this storm are eligible to receive Community Development Block Grant funding, vital aid, so places like Milford, Connecticut, which saw hundreds of homes wiped out by the storm, can fully recover.

I also urge the defeat of an amendment that cuts funding for the rebuilding of seawalls and research buildings at the Stewart McKinney National Wildlife Refuge in Connecticut.

I might remind my colleague from Louisiana that between Rita, Wilma, and Katrina, this institution appropriated $130 billion, not $3.9 billion, in disaster relief.

The families affected by Sandy are in their hour of need. They have waited too long for this institution to act. I urge all my colleagues to support this disaster aid funding to help the Northeast rebuild.

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