Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I rise to encourage the Senate to seek quick action on the Sandy relief package that has been long overdue. I know the majority leader is committed to bringing it to the floor as soon as we can get some type of agreement with the other side of the aisle, and I hope that agreement can come quickly because a recovery that is delayed--as this has already been significantly delayed--is a recovery that very likely can fail.

We cannot afford for one of the biggest engines of the national economy, which is the Northeast, to fail in its recovery. This is not only for the sake of the Northeast but for the entire country.

I appreciate the majority leader's steadfast commitment to provide that relief as quickly as possible here in the Senate, but time is a- wasting. It is already Wednesday, and I am concerned we will lose another week before we, in fact, seek passage and then go to the President. From there, it would move on so the resources could begin to flow to communities across the Northeast that have languished since Sandy took its toll.

There is no excuse for delay. We already had the delay in the House. They could have passed the package the Senate passed in a transparent process that had the Appropriations Committee--on both sides--scrubbing the bill. It was brought before the Senate in a fashion in which we like to see the Senate work. I believe there were 25-some-odd amendments that were considered, a full vetting of the legislation, and there was a strong bipartisan vote at the end of that process. It was then sent to the House, and unfortunately it languished and died at the end of the last Congress.

Now the House has acted in a different fashion. So I am happy at this point to accept the House's version--even though I do believe the Senate version is superior in a variety of ways--so it can be sent to the President. Getting relief to the citizens in the Northeast is critically important.

I look at the package the House has, and I say to myself that $50.7 billion in resources, in addition to the flood insurance package that has already passed, will allow our residents and small businesses that have been waiting so long to recover and begin to rebuild. Finally, it will show them that they have a strong partner in the Federal Government and that someone is there for them, as we have been whenever and wherever disaster has struck

our fellow Americans throughout this Nation.

Obviously, I would have preferred the Senate bill, which was stronger, but we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We need to get assistance to the victims of Sandy as quickly as possible. This is a vehicle that gets us to that goal.

While the House bill significantly reduces assistance in a couple of areas--including fishery disasters and community development funding, which I think in that respect may stump the recovery of an important industry along our coast and could potentially siphon off billions in CDBG funding that is badly needed right now in New York and New Jersey by amplifying what disasters are eligible for it--I am pleased to say we protected the overall amendment of the CDBG funding from the Senate bill, which is about $16 billion.

While it is not everything we needed since it will now be spread even thinner across even more disasters, we can certainly help as many communities rebuild and recover as we can because time is of the essence. There is a fierce urgency right now. There are many business owners whom I have spoken to who said to me: Senator, I am at a critical juncture. I don't know whether I can reopen. If the government is not going to give me assistance, then I likely won't open because adding more debt, even in terms of a long-term, low-interest loan, is still debt. They say: I took out debt to start this business or: I took out debt to get through the great recession, but I don't really have the option to take out more debt without some direct assistance, such as a grant. A grant would give the help I need to jump-start my business so I can get those individuals I had employed reemployed once again and create an opportunity for our community.

That decision right now for those businesses, which are life-and- death decisions, is pending and hanging by the will of the Senate to act.

I am also pleased that the package the House passed recognizes what I have been saying all along--that funding the Army Corps of Engineers' efforts is critical to rebuilding coastal communities, particularly New Jersey's weakened coastal defenses. We are at the lowest of our immune system as a coastal State, and we already see the biting cold. It is cold throughout the Capitol today, which shows how cold it is outside. Think about those residents who are fellow Americans and don't have a place to call home because they don't have the wherewithal to get their home back in a way in which they can once again be able to live there, raise their families there, and meet their challenges as a family in a warm nurturing environment. That does not exist for many of our fellow Americans because they don't have the wherewithal to decide whether they are going to get the type of assistance to help them rebuild their homes. All of that is pending.

Part of that is the Army Corps of Engineers' ability to reengineer our beaches in a way that ultimately provides not only for the potential of tourism, which is a $37 billion industry in our State, but even more importantly for the protection of lives, property, and protection against repetitive losses. That is what is going to happen when we get this money to the Army Corps of Engineers so they can rebuild our coastal defenses. This package would give Jersey Shore residents and businesses the comfort of knowing they would be better protected in the future than they have been in the past.

It also includes $13 billion in critical funding I sought to help to restore our transportation systems. For example, it would allow New Jersey Transit to repair extensive damage from the storm and allow the agency to build facilities on higher ground to prevent future flood damage, which is a commonsense option. When we think about fiscal responsibility, why would we rebuild only to the very same status that was allowed to be flooded in the first place and caused all of the damage the government would pay for? The passage of this potential package from the House would allow the port authority to finish repairing the PATH station and harden electrical equipment to prevent future damages.

If we could get an agreement, the package that would come to the floor would include necessary policy reforms that I have supported that will streamline recovery efforts and improve FEMA's public assistance programs, which is critical to a successful recovery. These reforms would allow us to rebuild what is in place even stronger and better before there is another storm. Again, this is important in terms of the end results. It is important in terms of the fiscal responsibility to ensure we rebuild in such a way that we don't end up with repetitive damage, which would be more costly to the government.

It would allow a third-party dispute resolution process for major projects. Some of the history we have, particularly with Katrina from Senator Landrieu's experience, is the reality of not having a dispute resolution process, which ultimately forestalled recoveries and critical projects to that State and in those communities. Also, coverage for childcare costs related to disaster recovery through FEMA individual assistance is a critical element.

Without going through all of the provisions of the House bill, let me just say we need to pass this relief package. People are suffering. They are desperately waiting for certainty so they can start rebuilding their lives, their businesses and communities. They are trying to get back on their feet. They need this aid even if it is late and even if it is ultimately longer than other disasters have had to wait. As I pointed out in the past, I think it was 10 days or so when $50 billion flowed to Katrina victims. We are nearly 3 months since the worst disaster on the east coast in terms of a natural disaster that has taken place.

The people of the Northeast, the people of my State of New Jersey and our neighbors in New York desperately need this funding, and it is time to help these fellow Americans. It is time to do it now. It is time to do it this week. It is going to take time for this recovery to take place. The longer we delay, the greater the chance of failure we, in fact, create. I think we want success, not failure. I think we want to understand, as an institution, as I have said many times, that this is the United States of America. That means we respond to the challenges and the disasters that take place in other parts of the country. We do it, hopefully, more expeditiously than this, and at the same time we stand by our fellow Americans so they can reclaim their lives, reclaim their commitments to their communities, reclaim the opportunity to reopen their businesses, to contribute to those communities, to our State, to this Nation, to our society.

So I strongly urge our colleagues who have some reticence to agree to moving forward on a Sandy bill to come to common ground with us, to come to agreement to move this relief package. No American should have to languish months after a disaster to get help. That should not be the standard. The hallmark of our response should be an intelligent but expeditious response to the consequences of a disaster that any American faces. That is our tradition. It is a tradition we should maintain. It is a tradition that, unfortunately, in this particular instance has not been a reality. It is a tradition that I hope we can ultimately embrace once again this week in finally pushing through a Sandy package that can move to the President for signature and bring relief to our communities.

With that, I yield the floor.

Reserving the right to object--I am not going to object, but I would like to amend the request so that I would be recognized after him.

After the Senator from New York.

First, I wish to thank the distinguished chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee for the work she and her staff have put together. It is remarkable considering the timeframe they were in. Of course, the late Senator Inouye, with his staff as well that the chairwoman has inherited, did an exceptional amount of work along with Senator Landrieu. Certainly the people of the Northeast thank you very much.

I think Senator Schumer has done a good job overall of talking about our concerns about these amendments, but I want to give a little greater depth and certainly a New Jersey perspective to them.

I do not question the motives of our distinguished colleague from Oklahoma. He has been consistent in that. I don't question his consistency. Even though I haven't checked the record, I will take his word that even on tax cuts and war spending he has been consistent. But I do question the consequences of some of his amendments--consequences to the people of the Northeast, consequences to the people of New Jersey, consequences in the future as it relates to other disasters.

At one point, he talked about courage in a fiscal sense. Let me tell you, courage is what people in New Jersey are looking at each and every day when they find their businesses closed and are trying to sum up the courage to open again. Courage is those who have lost their homes and are trying to reopen their homes, which they could not even do for the holidays. They were certainly not home for Christmas.

Courage is looking at that every day and trying to figure how you move forward. Courage is many of the small municipalities, many that lost their police and fire departments and are working with others to create public safety as they rebuild the very essence of their departments. That is courage, real courage in the face of incredible challenge.

Two of the amendments dealing with the Army Corps go straight to that courage. I came to the floor over the last 2 weeks several times and showed a host of visuals to our colleagues to understand that we are at the lowest level of protection. It is akin to an individual whose immune system is virtually gone. I said then, all we need is a nor'easter to come through and we will see the consequences of having no defenses.

Unfortunately, yesterday we suffered a nor'easter. It wasn't the worst of what we could have received, but for several parts of New Jersey it was certainly bad news because those communities that are defenseless as a result of not having Army Corps-engineered beaches caught the worst of it again. In Sea Bright and Mantoloking and a host of other communities along the Jersey shore, they caught the worst of it again and all the fears and all the nightmares of what they went through under Sandy were relived once again.

When you talk about changing the rules on the Army Corps' participation in terms of what he wants as a 90-10 split, No. 1, that changes the rules. Just to make sure I was right about this, I asked Senator Landrieu of Louisiana: Wait a minute. In Katrina, wasn't there a 90-10 split? She said, Yes; and in some cases up to 100.

The people of the Northeast, the people of New Jersey and New York, deserve no less in their disaster. There are a whole host of communities even with a 90-10 split that are going to find it incredibly difficult--when 20 or 25 percent of their ratable base is gone--to fund the 10 percent that we are asking them. We believe they should have skin in the game. But even at that 10 percent, they are going to have enormous difficulties funding that 10 percent to get the lifesaving, property-saving, fiscally responsible solution in having Army Corps-engineered beaches.

So 90-10 is still a challenge to a whole host of communities. Go to the proposition that our colleague from Oklahoma has, and we basically nullify their ability to protect their citizens. I always thought the No. 1 priority of any government--Federal, State or local--was to protect their citizens. Certainly, the Senate should be protecting its citizens, whether it is abroad or at home. In this respect, we cannot protect our citizens along the New Jersey coastline if, in fact, we cannot have these engineered beaches and if, in fact, we cannot afford to have those engineered beaches.

So talk about being fiscally responsible. Instead, we will pay billions in repetitive-loss damages, and we will lose lives as we lost in New Jersey. I want to save lives and I want to save property and I want to save the Federal Government from paying repetitive losses. That is why that amendment is certainly not one we can accept by any stretch of the imagination. It is unfair to the people of the Northeast because it changes the rules of the game, and it is unfair in terms of our obligation to the public safety. I, for one, do not want to be casting a vote that ultimately leaves my fellow New Jerseyans or fellow Americans at risk when I could have saved their lives. I am certainly not going to do that, and I hope this Chamber is not going to do that.

Secondly, with reference to the other Army Corps of Engineers amendment, which would suggest that those projects that are already well underway to being determined and that, in fact, are cost-effective and can save lives and save property and save ratables and save repetitive losses cannot be approved, would be, in essence, to guarantee that at the lowest rate of our defenses we will just suffer an entire winter of incredible misery, no, we cannot have that amendment pass.

Thirdly, with reference to the question of acquisition, the Governor of New Jersey made that decision. I can't speak for him, but my understanding is he made that decision from FEMA-approved contracts. If FEMA needs a better process to go ahead and negotiate and/or bid in advance of a generic contract, so be it. But a delayed recovery is a failed recovery. I want my colleagues to remember that 10 days after Hurricane Katrina, this Chamber passed two separate bills amounting to $60 billion. It has been nearly 2 months since we had Superstorm Sandy and nothing has passed. Who among us would be content with the counsels of patience and delay if, in fact, we were shivering in the cold; if, in fact, our families had no home; if, in fact, they had been displaced from their schools; if, in fact, their businesses that they worked a lifetime and took out debt and now are closed may never open, who among us would be happy with the counsels of patience and delay? So we cannot have a set of circumstances that creates a series of delays.

I am all for the good governing amendments of saying to those who are in debt to the Nation that they, in fact, cannot receive any benefits or those who are deceased. Of course, they should not receive any benefits. But the rest of this is about creating delay after delay that is in the midst of a biting winter. We just had the first nor'easter yesterday. We cannot ultimately accept those types of changes that put us in a process in which, in fact, we will not be able to successfully move the elements of being able to recover.

This constant reference that a great part of the money--the overwhelming part of the money will not be spent, I think I heard 2015, is simply not the case. Whether it be Army Corps of Engineers projects that have already been approved and authorized but not funded that are critical to our defenses, those are ready to go. They just need money. The flexibility we have sought in this bill, working with an incredible insight from what happened in Hurricane Katrina and what worked and did not work, that flexibility will allow money to flow to business people are at the crucial point of trying to decide: Can I open? Because I need to know what the government is going to do for me, as part of my equation as to whether I open this business. Because low-interest loans from the SBA, even a long-term proposition, is still more debt. Many of these businesspeople that I have met up and down New Jersey have told me: Senator, I took out money to start this business. I took a debt to start this business. I took out further debt through the great recession. More debt doesn't necessarily mean I will succeed, but a grant, as we authorize through CDBG block grants, can very well make the difference between me reopening and not and hiring back people and being able to have and be part of that ratable base and paying toward the greater good of the State and the Nation. That is what is at stake as well. That money is going to flow if we do this the right way as this bill envisions. So this suggestion that it is going to take years down the road is simply not true.

Secondly, I think we lose sight that while, yes, this is about New Jersey and New York and Connecticut, it is about a region--a region that employs 10 percent of the Nation's workforce and accounts for 11 percent of the entire Nation's GDP. That is 12.7 million workers and $1.4 trillion in productivity. If we want to see that region continue to contribute to the gross domestic product growth of this country, to continue to contribute to the employment, to continue to contribute to the Federal coffers, we need to help it to be able to help themselves, not to turn our back on them. That is what is at stake.

Finally, I would just say there is a whole host of other disasters, and the committee has been very focused on saying nothing goes into this bill that isn't disaster related, one disaster or another. Because there has been no other disaster funding that there has been a vehicle for, whether it be wildfires or crop disasters--I personally welcome that, because as I have said many times, this is the United States of America. There is a reason we call it the United States of America. It is so we are all in this together. So I welcome the fact that we can help other fellow Americans through this vehicle, whether it be about wildfires or crop disasters or estuaries and fisheries that were hurt in other parts of the country at different times. So be it. Because that is what being the United States of America is all about.

But we need to pass this bill tomorrow. We need to reject these amendments--particularly the ones that I and Senator Schumer have talked about--because they will fail us in our recovery. It will undermine our ability to protect our people.

Finally, I would just simply say we need to pass it so the House can consider this bill as its vehicle when they come back on Sunday. This bill has been out there for weeks. The President's proposal has been out there for over 1 month. Everybody knows what has been asked. Everybody knows what is involved. Everybody has seen that the Senate already voted for cloture; therefore, there is going to be a bill here at the end of the day. There is no reason why the House cannot seek to pass this and respond to our fellow citizens in the Northeast. That is what being the United States of America is all about.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 5 minutes.

Mr. President, there are few times in the history of this institution when one Senator, a singularly iconic leader, comes along and reminds us of what it means to be a U.S. Senator and what it means to represent the very best of what this Nation stands for and to do it, as he always did, with the utmost dignity, honor, pride, and integrity.

I am deeply saddened to have to speak to the passing of a true American hero. He was someone who inspired so many of us in the Senate. His ideals and sense of justice were always on display.

The passing of Senator Inouye leaves a painful void in the leadership of this body. In so many ways, the life and sacrifice of Senator Inouye embodies the essence of the ``greatest generation.''

Even when faced with the suffering, indignity, and humiliation of an internment camp, he did not allow his heart to be turned or his love and commitment to his country to be diminished. Justice was a constant theme in his life. He represented the challenges faced by his Hawaiian people since statehood, when he became its first representative in the U.S. Congress.

We had a close bond when it came to our concern for minorities in our country. Because of the struggles in his life, he understood the struggles in both of our communities. He felt a kinship to the Hispanic community and shared the community's hopes and aspirations. In recent conversations, I know from his comments that he understood the growing importance of the Hispanic community and the benefit of advancing their interests within American society. He lived it, he understood it, he knew.

We worked together on the recognition of Filipino veterans--something he was very passionate about--and he thanked me most graciously, as always, for my interest and for my commitment to working with him on an issue so dear to his heart.

These are just a few stories of a man who led a quintessentially American life. I know there are thousands more stories to be told, some of which have already been told on the Senate floor, but the real story is that this was a man who sacrificed for his country, met the challenges it presented, but ultimately, because of a kind heart and loyalty to the ideals we profess as Americans, he became one of the most important, yet most humble, leaders in the U.S. Senate.

Senator Inouye and his life and deeds remind us what it means to be an American hero, a war hero who carried the burden of his service with him all of his life. His courage, his patriotism, and his respect for the values he fought for informed his views and his votes in this Chamber.

The Senate is sadly diminished today with the passing of one of our most respected and iconic leaders--a hero, a powerful voice for reason, rationality, and common sense when reason, rationality, and common sense are too often in short supply. He will be missed not only by all of us who had the privilege to serve with him but by a nation that needs more leaders like him.

We, all of us, remember his lasting influence, his way of making us look into the heart of the matter without prejudice or preconceived political impressions. He knew how to get to the crux of an issue, and he led the way so many times for the rest of us. We followed his lead, and the Nation is better for it.

All of us who worked with him as chairman of the Appropriations Committee respected his word and his commitment to fairness. He was always willing to listen, always willing to hear your side, always willing to reach out across the aisle for what he believed was right.

Most recently, he was the voice of support and wisdom in our efforts to secure disaster relief for my home State of New Jersey. He empathized with the needs of New Jerseyans, just as he addressed the needs of Hawaiians for decades. There is no more gracious man than Dan Inouye, no one who was as dignified and respectful than the senior Senator from Hawaii.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and his family and to the people of Hawaii today. We have lost an incredibly great man.

Mahalo, my friend, until we meet again.

Mr. President, I rise to respond to some of the comments I heard from my colleagues with reference to the Hurricane Sandy emergency supplemental. Hopefully I can give all of our colleagues--who will be casting a vote here at some point--an understanding as to why we hold a different view than some of the comments that have been made.

One of those comments I will generally put under the rubric we can wait and do something small. Various comments have been referenced in that respect. Some seem to be questioning whether this emergency is worthy of a robust Federal response. They say the cost to help families rebuild and recover is too much and should be reduced. I have heard that in this emergency it is not necessary, and unlike many other similar emergencies in the past, we should do something smaller and wait to do the rest later.

I think those who suggest or make that argument don't seem to understand that a piecemeal recovery is a

failed recovery. We cannot rebuild half of a bridge unless we know the entirety of the money that is necessary is committed, like the Mantoloking Bridge in New Jersey, which I have shown many pictures of. We cannot hire a contractor to ultimately replace an entire sewage treatment system that had enormous amounts of sewage dispersing directly into the Hudson River because it was overcome if we only have half of the funding. We cannot hire a contractor to rebuild half a home or restore half of a community unless we know the money is there and that they can depend upon it in order to finish the project. We need the money in place to rebuild entire projects and entire areas to ensure that families and businesses devastated by the storm can recover.

Right now there are literally tens of thousands of small business owners trying to decide whether to reopen or pack it in. They are in a limbo. They are waiting to see what we, their Federal Government, do to respond to their tragedy. They are making decisions in their lives, their businesses, and everyone who is hired by those businesses. They are frozen and waiting to make those decisions based on whether the government is going to offer them a small business loan at low rates that are competitive with the marketplace and have longer term payments. Will they give them a grant toward rebuilding? What type of other benefits will they be able to derive in order to make a determination of whether they can open their business again? Having just a sense that there is only some emergent money and not the moneys to be able to do that doesn't allow them to open their business. It doesn't allow them to make that decision, and it freezes them in time.

The same thing is true for the person who, as winter is biting in the Northeast, faces the challenges of deciding what they might get from the government as it relates to rebuilding their home. Should they go forth or not? It is as if some of our colleagues don't believe when we describe this tragedy--and I welcome any one of our colleagues who wants to visit us in New Jersey to come with me to see the breadth, depth, and scope of our devastation. I have already taken a number of Members who were willing to go.

I ask my colleagues: Do you think Governor Christie is making this up? Do you think this fiscal hawk of the Republican Party is looking for Federal aid that is not desperately needed? Do you think we made up these photos of the damage? I can assure everyone we did not.

This is a picture taken just at one small part of the Jersey shore. If I could have a continuum that would bring us around this Chamber, it would look exactly like this. This is Ortley Beach. It shows blocks and blocks of homes that have been totally destroyed. It is an image that can be seen up and down the New Jersey coast.

Here is another example in Union Beach. It is half a home, but that whole community was significantly devastated. If we were to see this community, there would be rows and rows of houses reduced to rubble. I think that is the reality of what we have as a continuation of those neighborhoods in Union Beach.

I was talking to the mayor today--as part of a group of mayors--about their challenges, and this is an example of what he is facing throughout his community.

The storm damage is real and the Governor's request for funding is actually $20 billion higher than the supplemental we are debating. It is significant that it is $20 billion higher than the amount we are debating. These requests were scrubbed by OMB from the Governor's original request and gone over with a fine-tooth comb by the Appropriations Committee. Everything in this bill, whether it is about Sandy or something else, is about declared disasters. Now is the time to come to our neighbors' help.

Secondly, there are those who come to the floor and say they are upset about the Army Corps element of this disaster bill and that the budget in this bill is too rigorous. They say that planning and rebuilding for the future is a waste, and that we can have another legislative opportunity to deal with the future. I would submit to those Members who very much care about fiscal responsibility that it is neither efficient, effective, nor fiscally responsible. What should we do, have the Army Corps go back to exactly what existed before? In many cases, what existed before did not sustain those communities, did not withhold the consequence of the surge, and created enormous losses.

We lost over 40 lives. The storm affected over 300,000 homes--30,000 permanently gone.

It seems to me, if we want to be smart fiscally, planning for the future means rebuilding well and rebuilding smart. It means rebuilding in a way that protects us from future storms.

We learned a lot from this superstorm. We know Army Corps coastal defenses work. Where we had them in place, the damage was minimal; where we didn't, there was more devastation, there was more damage, there was more destruction, and more recovery costs.

Stockton College did a study of the Army Corps beach engineering projects before and after the storm, and what it found was unambiguous. Where the Army Corps was able to complete a beach engineering project recently, the dunes helped and damage to communities behind the project was manageable.

Here is a picture taken at Surf City, NJ, right after the storm. This beach received beach engineering in 2007 as part of the Army Corps Long Beach Island Shore Protection Project, and my colleagues can see that despite damage being done to the dune, the dune held and saved lives, saved property, and saved money.

Alternatively, the pictures of Union Beach, which I previously referred to--it is a working-class town that couldn't afford the local match for the Army Corps project, and as my colleagues can see, we have an entirely devastated neighborhood. So we see the fundamental difference: Engineered beaches by the Army Corps, minimal destruction: Those that weren't engineered, maximum destruction; costs, and consequences. Rebuilding the defenses only to the standard that existed before the storm will just give us more of the same in the next storm. If we don't do things differently, we shouldn't expect a different outcome.

In this photo, we also see the homes destroyed by the storm surge. Yes, we can help these homeowners rebuild, but if we don't rebuild smarter, better, and with stronger coastal protections, we will be paying again after the next storm, both in terms of human suffering and Federal funds. The storm crews with the Army Corps of Engineers, academic studies, and local community officials have been telling us for years that beach engineering works. It protects lives. It protects properties. It saves us money in the long run.

Time is of the essence. The severe storm damage caused by Sandy has left New Jersey defenseless. As we enter what is our most vulnerable storm season--the winter Nor'easters--we don't need a Superstorm Sandy to have major consequences all the way up and down the communities throughout New Jersey.

Right now, the Jersey shore is similar to a person with a weak immune system. The storm has destroyed our defenses, and that is why we need to rebuild them quickly. If we don't, a relatively mild storm can cause catastrophic damage.

This is a challenge to us right now--right now. Suggesting the Army Corps budget is not one we need right now and it can wait--these communities can't wait. These communities can't wait. In fact, it will be far more costly to us.

I think we have close to anywhere between $750 million and $1 billion in Army Corps of Engineers projects that have been approved--passed and been approved--but they have not had the funding. So when we add those that would ensure we don't end up like Ortley Beach and that we can recover those like Ortley Beach that have been battered and shattered, then I think it makes critical sense.

Finally, I know there are some who suggest mitigation is not worthy of this disaster. I think I have made the case, in the case of the Army Corps, although the Army Corps is not the only form of mitigation. Mitigation means rebuilding smarter and stronger. Whether it is through a flexible CDBG account that will allow the hardening

of our electrical grid or elevating homes or via traditional Army Corps or FEMA programs, mitigation has long been a part of supplemental appropriations.

In the gulf coast, we spent $16 billion building a world-class storm protection system in Louisiana--$16 billion. In Alabama and Texas, we used CDBG funding to raise homes and improve infrastructure. So much of the public infrastructure in our region that was damaged as a result of the superstorm is eligible for reimbursement from FEMA. There is no disputing that.

The Stafford Act has now been the law of the land for many years, and it says the Federal Government will assume the cost of repairs to critical infrastructure after an event such as Sandy. These communities, when we talk to mayors in Little Ferry and Moonachie--not the Jersey Shore but northern New Jersey and other places that were dramatically hit--when I was visiting them soon after the storm, one mayor said to me, Mayor Vaccaro, I lost my police department, my fire department, and city hall is underwater.

They need to be protecting their citizens. They need to be able to fully depend upon the resources to get back their public safety efforts. It does not make good fiscal sense for Congress to pay to fix our broken infrastructure, which we are legally required to do, without looking to protect our investment and prevent similar costly damage in the future. To me, that makes a lot more fiscal sense at the end of the day. So we will look forward to coming back to the floor again and again as we deal with these issues, but I hope our colleagues understand the urgency of now.

Final point. After Katrina, in 10 days the Congress passed two emergency supplementals that totaled a little over $62 billion for Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi. It has been 6 weeks--6 weeks, not 10 days, 6 weeks--since the storm hit New Jersey, New York, and the Northeast, and there hasn't been any action. The urgency of now is incredibly important and the urgency of doing this robustly is incredibly important to the recovery of a region that is so important to the economic engine of this country.

Mr. President, I see the Senator from Alaska is ready to speak. I have been asked to do some wrapup items, if she would indulge us.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Con. Res. 63 submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the measure be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Con. Res. 64 submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 624 submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements relating to the measure be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m., on Wednesday, December 19, 2012; that following the

prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that following any leader remarks, the Senate be in a period of morning business for 1 hour, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the Republicans controlling the first half and the majority controlling the final half; and that following morning business, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 1, the legislative vehicle for the emergency supplemental appropriations bill; further, that Senator Hutchison be recognized at 11:30 a.m. for up to 30 minutes and that Senator Kyl be recognized at 2 p.m. for up to 30 minutes, each for the purpose of delivering retirement speeches.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the provisions of S. Res. 624, as a further mark of respect to the late Senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii, following the remarks of Senator Murkowski.

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I rise with a heavy heart at the senseless tragedy in Newtown, CT, that took place this Friday. We are all shaken

from that day, and we ask ourselves: Why? How could this happen in America? We grope for answers and I hope we will find them.

Today I join, first with every American, in expressing our deep and abiding grief as a Nation and our deepest, most heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. I am the father of two. As a father of two, this strikes painfully close to my heart, and painfully close to the heart of every parent. There is no greater sorrow, no deeper pain than the enormous grief these families are suffering for those 20 innocent children, 6 teachers, and school employees and their families; and no parent--no parent--should ever have to bear the unspeakable pain of losing a child, especially to this type of tragedy.

All too often I have come to this floor having to say those same words--one tragedy after another, time and time again, having to stand here and say that our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of another tragedy involving gun violence, semiautomatic weapons, high- capacity clips, and the families of those victims who have lost loved ones to senseless, sick gun violence.

But this time we are talking about children--elementary schoolchildren--the youngest, most innocent among us taken away. Enough is enough.

Matthew 18 says:

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying ``Who is

the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?'' And calling to him a

child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ``Truly, I

say to you, unless you turn and become like the children, you

will never enter the kingdom of heaven . . . ''

The children have entered the kingdom of heaven today. I hope we honor them and their memory in what we do now to end the violence. Let Newton finally be the turning point when we are all willing to come together and do what is right. As we pray for the victims, let us commit ourselves as a Nation to a long overdue debate about violence and guns and how we deal with those who suffer mental illnesses in our society, and let us finally pass commonsense gun laws. No more politics; no more excuses. We cannot allow this sort of senseless violence to continue. We need a national debate about the role of firearms in our society, we need to address mental health issues, and we need to act immediately.

This shooter had hundreds of rounds of ammunition--reportedly enough to kill everyone in the school--and had it not been for the brave first responders, there could have been even more tragic killings on Friday. These high-capacity clips must be outlawed. I don't believe there is any reason why a law-abiding citizen would need the capability to shoot multiple rounds like a street sweeper.

Words cannot express my sadness that another shooter used a weapon that has no legitimate purpose, from my perspective, in a civilized society, using high-capacity 30-round clips that defy any reasonable use. And there are even greater capacity clips than this.

I don't understand why the same type of weapon used by the DC sniper is still readily available, and I don't understand how we can see the same high-capacity clips used over and over by maniacal murderers during these strategies and not act.

After Tucson, Aurora, and now Newtown, we need to finally do something about these dangerous clips. We need to make sure nobody with a criminal record or mental illness can purchase a firearm, and that means we need a comprehensive, mandatory background check system. It is no use that my State of New Jersey has some of the toughest laws but then over a third of the guns that come into our State and commit an act are from outside our State.

I have cosponsored legislation to outlaw high-capacity clips, improve our background checks, and I have supported and helped pass the original assault weapons ban, and I will support an assault weapons ban this next year as I have in the past.

This doesn't need to be a political debate. This is about keeping little children safe in their first-grade classroom. I am for reasonable use of guns, but first and foremost I am for protecting our children, our teachers, our families. That is our No. 1 responsibility. If we can't do that, shame on us.

Mr. President, with that, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I rise today for the people of New Jersey whose lives have been turned upside down by Superstorm Sandy. I rise for families and small businesses still trying to recover, for homeowners in Little Ferry, shopkeepers in Moonachie, and for every family who lost property, possessions, and homes in Union Beach and Seaside Heights, and all along the Jersey shore.

I rise, for example, for this resident in Pleasantville who, you can see from this photograph, pretty much lost everything. This is the side of his house, totally ripped out. It looks like a dollhouse. But he was optimistic and hopeful for the future despite his challenges. This Sandy relief package is for him. By the way, he is a veteran.

I rise today for the 40 New Jerseyans who lost their lives in this powerful, devastating, and destructive storm.

As we come to the floor in the face of that tragic loss of life, I know all of my colleagues join me in offering our thoughts and prayers to the loved ones of the victims of Superstorm Sandy. I hope all of my colleagues will join me in casting a vote that tells those families they are not alone, that we are all in this together; a vote that says we are ready as a Nation to help families and businesses and communities recover when there is disaster.

I join with Senators Lautenberg, Gillibrand, and Schumer, and every Senator from the affected States, to thank the President for the request of $60 billion in aid to help our States begin the rebuilding process. This package is certainly a very good start.

The damage we saw after Hurricane or Superstorm Sandy is difficult to describe, in part because this was not only a powerful storm but it was an incredibly massive storm. We felt the greatest impact in New Jersey and New York, but as you can see from this NASA photo, the storm obscures almost all of the Northeast in this satellite photo.

The numbers are staggering across the region. We lost 40 people in the

storm. Based on preliminary estimates, over 300,000 homes in New Jersey were severely damaged, over 20,000 homes were absolutely destroyed or made uninhabitable. But we fear the numbers will be even much higher as reporting continues. The preliminary damage estimate provided by the State of New Jersey is now up to $36.9 billion in damage, and everyone expects that number will rise.

These are numbers. They may be a way to quantify the damage, but they fail to paint a picture of what we have seen throughout the State: the level of destruction, the faces of many thousands of displaced people who find themselves homeless and basically nothing left from their homes--their possessions, their keepsakes, their memories, all gone. Entire neighborhoods, where several generations of families lived in close-knit communities, gone, thousands of decades-old small businesses ruined, their owners unsure if they will have the ability or the means to rebuild. We are getting more damage numbers, but the human toll is truly incalculable.

The sheer scope of the damage is also difficult to fathom, but to get a better sense of that, we have compiled some pictures that I hope to show our colleagues. Let me thank the Star-Ledger, New Jersey's largest newspaper, for helping me compile these images from their photo gallery to tell the story of the devastation Sandy caused to our great State.

This is the Mantoloking Bridge which crossed Barnegat Bay and connected Brick with Mantoloking before the storm, and here it is after the storm. As you can see in this picture, the storm surge ripped a gash right through Mantoloking. These homes were largely all destroyed. As a matter of fact, the nature of the New Jersey coastline has now changed and there are inlets where there were none before, and it has totally rewritten the geography of the New Jersey shoreline.

The relief package we are debating today will help us repair, yes, this bridge, as well as some of the surrounding homes that were clearly lost and part of the highway that will need to be rebuilt, and it will help us defend this community from the fear of this happening again, of part of the community totally being ripped out.

While much of the damage was on the Jersey shore, northern New Jersey communities such as Little Ferry, as seen on this photo, and Moonachie saw extensive river flooding when a berm failed. I was actually by this location and saw FEMA emergency management teams, as well as local police and firefighters, getting people out of their homes in rafts in order to be able to get to dry land. Private property damage to both towns has been estimated to exceed $15 million. This bill will help these people rebuild and provide the State the resources it needs to build the berm back stronger.

In Sayerville, this is the third time in 3 years they have experienced severe flooding. In this picture, Mei Zhu surveys the damage inside her home. And that look of absolute fear and terror of what is before them is a look I have seen far too many times on the faces of New Jerseyans.

The foundations of some homes were ripped away, causing fear of physical collapse. Other homes were condemned and residents were told to leave. According to construction officials, in this borough alone a list of 39 homes with collapsed foundations and 246 other homes were severely damaged.

After these repeated floods, many are now asking for their homes to be bought out, but an additional $55 million is needed to allow these residents to move on. This bill has the resources needed to allow the State to fund these buyouts and allow Sayerville to deal with its new realities.

Here now are two pictures of Union Beach, NJ, a working-class town that could not afford the local $30 million to $40 million match for an Army Corps beach engineering project.

In this photo, you can see the storm devastated entire neighborhoods. Rebuilding defenses only to the standard that existed before the storm will give us more of the same in the next storm. If we don't do things differently, we shouldn't expect a different result.

In this next photo, you can see houses that were crushed by the storm's surge. Yes, we can help these homeowners rebuild, but if we don't rebuild smarter, better, and with stronger coastal protections, we will be back here again after the next storm paying the same price both in terms of human suffering and Federal funds.

I appreciate that colleagues came to see the devastation, the many administration officials, and the Vice President. We saw the difference between an Army Corps-engineered beach and one that is not. Where there was an Army Corps-engineered beach, you had very little destruction. Where you did not, you had massive destruction. The storm proves what the Army Corps of Engineers, academic studies, and local communities have been telling us for years: Beach engineering works. It protects lives, it protects property, and it saves us money in the long run from repetitive loss.

This next image is what you can see by helicopter all up and down the Jersey shore. This is one part, Ortley Beach, where many homes were destroyed and totally encased in sand. Many communities going back blocks and blocks off the beach will be found in very similar sets of circumstances.

Just to give you a sense of the magnitude, this is one community. Multiply that by a whole host of communities along the Jersey shore going back literally blocks and blocks of this picture.

In a different context, hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans have had their commutes disrupted because of the storm. Every single New Jersey Transit rail line was affected. Most service has been restored, but even today the Port Authority's PATH terminal at Hoboken, which brings thousands of riders back and forth between New York and New Jersey and the major financial markets of this Nation, is inoperable and it still won't be back on line for some time, affecting the commutes, the lives, and pocketbooks of 30,000 passengers who use that station every weekday. This closure has hurt many local small businesses and is forcing some workers to take a 6:30 a.m. bus every morning instead of an 8 a.m. train. Others are taking ferries, of course far more costly than their PATH ride, meaning that their personal budgets are hit dramatically each and every week that they are going to work. Superstorm Sandy caused an estimated $7 billion in damage to transit systems across the region, disrupting not only people's commutes but taking time from them to spend with their families and money out of their pockets.

Here is a picture from a security camera showing the rushing corrosive seawater into the station of Hoboken, NJ. The saltwater has been pumped out and the silt that had accumulated has been dug out, but electrical equipment will need to be replaced and rebuilt before we see the tens of thousands of riders who rely on this station traveling again.

Other than the destruction wrought by the storm surge itself, arguably the biggest impact of the storm was the loss of power. At the outage peak, approximately two-thirds of the entire State was without power. Ten days after the storm, 10 percent of the State was still without power. Without power, these customers did not have heat, despite temperatures in the low 40s. Of the 40 New Jersey deaths, about half were directly related to the loss of power, including oxygen machines shutting off, people falling in the dark, carbon monoxide poisoning from generators, and hypothermia. Fully restoring power was a Herculean task, requiring utility crews from as far away as Oklahoma and Quebec to help local line workers.

At this moment our defenses are so low. It is like your immune system; when your immune system is depleted and at its lowest, you are most susceptible to getting ill. Up and down the New Jersey shoreline, we are totally defenseless. All we need is a northeaster--God forbid-- and we will be in critical shape, unless we get this money to rebuild.

The Jersey shore was the epicenter of the destruction caused by Superstorm Sandy, as the storm made landfall near Atlantic City. From Sandy Hook to Cape May, tens of millions of people visit the shore every year. It generates $38 billion in revenue to thousands of businesses annually. Here you can see the tremendous damage at the iconic Casino Pier at Seaside Heights. This photo shows more than just a mangled roller coaster; it symbolizes the destruction of an entire community--the

small businesses that rely on this and other attractions and fuel this shore community.

New Jersey small businesses have suffered a combined $8.3 billion in damages, according to preliminary analyses. Here in Seaside Heights, many shore businesses were devastated. Here in Bay Head, a salon has its flood-damaged furniture piled out front awaiting removal. When we went to Long Beach Island with about four of our Senate colleagues, they saw block after block of businesses totally closed. This isn't about seasonal businesses. These are businesses that actually would be open but for Superstorm Sandy.

Here is a business owner cleaning up after flooding at Elsy Auto Repair in Newark. It gives you a sense of the breadth and scope of the shore, Newark and all types of communities affected.

I wanted to walk through these photos to give my colleagues and fellow Americans a sense of the damage we have seen throughout my home State. But what I have shown you still does not do justice to the full impact of the storm or the devastation people went through. Every part of New Jersey was affected by the storm and we need your help to recover.

Unfortunately, there are those voices saying the cost to help families rebuild and recover is too much, that it should be reduced; that in this emergency, unlike many other similar emergencies in the past, we should do something smaller and wait to do the rest later.

Those who make such arguments could not, respectfully, be more wrong. We cannot rebuild half a PATH station, a little now and more sometime in the future; we cannot permanently repair half the Mantoloking Bridge; half a bridge is not a bridge at all. We cannot hire a contractor to rebuild half a house or restore half of a community. We need the money in place to rebuild entire projects and entire areas to ensure that families and businesses devastated by the storm can recover.

Right now there are tens of thousands of small business owners trying to decide--their life is on hold--whether I will have some assistance by the government that will help me reopen or I will pack it in. They need to see a full Federal commitment right now to know they have the resources and the customers they need to make it. Half a loaf or a wait-and-see commitment is simply not good enough.

I do not want our small businesses to pack and move on. I do not want multigenerational businesses to end because of a superstorm. I know Governor Christie doesn't want them to move on either. We want them to recover and stay in New Jersey. Disaster reimbursement from FEMA and agencies such as the Department of Transportation only flows when a project is completed. That makes the spending seem slow but actually the rebuilding happens much more quickly. Local communities are able to budget and contract for a project, knowing the money will be there at the end. If we wait, if we do not put up the money, then some of the rebuilding will also wait and a piecemeal recovery is a stalled recovery and, in all likelihood, a failed recovery.

The need is clear for passage of the Sandy relief package for my State and for the entire region devastated by the storm and the ruin it left in its wake. We have just gone through an election at the heart of which we debated the role of government in our lives. I submit we need to focus on what government does to help build the spirit of community we have seen in action in the aftermath of this devastating storm. Americans across the country were riveted by the stories of the immediate aftermath of the storm: the pictures of entire communities underwater, homes moved blocks down the road, homes and train cars blocking Federal highways, hospitals closed, gas lines miles long, people waiting hours for fuel to run generators to keep their homes heated and families warm, weeks of fuel rationing and no transit or Amtrak service for the entire region for people to get to work or visit their families.

Without a doubt, these were trying times for New Jersey. But now, just because those scenes are no longer showing in living rooms across the country, does not mean the pain is not there. It does not mean the recovery is over. Thousands of families are still displaced from their homes and will be for months to come.

We face this at the beginning of a winter. Many of these superstorms and hurricanes come in tropical times. We are in the midst of winter. The bite is even worse. Transit lines are still out. Community infrastructure still has to be rebuilt. Now is not the time for the Federal Government to walk away. It is more crucial now than ever for the Federal Government to help devastated communities rebuild, to help families get the assistance they need to repair their homes and put their lives back together. I, for one, will not rest until the rebuilding is done.

Whether in the Senate or before in my role in the House of Representatives, I have never said no to disaster funding--whether that was a result of Hurricane Katrina, for the people of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi; whether there was flooding along the Mississippi; in another context, whether it was tornado disasters in the Midwest; whether it was crop destruction for our farm States, I have not said no because I believe that is the essence of why we call this country the United States of America.

The only difference is the location and extent of the destruction. Now it is time for my fellow Americans to stand with New Jersey. We have been battered, but we are not broken. We are stronger and more united in our efforts to work to recover, rebuild, and recommit ourselves to uniting around common concerns and shared values rather than being divided by our differences. This is the lesson we learn and together we will rebuild and the Garden State will bloom once again.

I look forward to my colleagues supporting us in this effort as I have supported our fellow Americans, their people in their State and their challenges. This is one in which we need them to join hand in hand with us and to remember that but for the grace of God there go I.

This will happen someplace, sometime in another part of the Nation, and I will be proud at that time to once again say, yes; this is the United States of America.

Madam President, on December 10 of this year Mr. Warren E. Britcher, a veteran of World War II and former manager of the Senate restaurant, passed away at the age of 91.

Warren Britcher was born and raised in Springfield, OH. He proudly served in World War II as a T4 sergeant in the U.S. Army, eventually managing the kitchen of Fort McClellan, one of the largest Army installations during World War II. After serving in the Army, Warren went to work for Canteen Food Service, where he held various managerial assignments. In August of 1950, Warren came to Washington, DC, to serve as manager of the Senate restaurant, where he oversaw the inaugural luncheon of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Afterward, he became the operations manager for Yankee Stadium Foods and Concessions before opening his own restaurant and catering establishment, Swiss Town House, in my hometown, Union City, NJ. He left his restaurant in 1977 to pursue a new position at Yonkers Raceway and later supervised the USS Intrepid Air and Space Museum food service. Prior to his retirement to Florida, he created Britcher Concession Corporation.

Warren was the devoted husband of the late Dorothy Mae Lighthiser Britcher and the father of Sherrie Ahrens, Drew Britcher, and the late Warren Britcher, Jr. He was the proud grandfather to four grandchildren, Douglas, Craig, Sean, and Caitlin Anne, and had four great grandchildren. He will be laid to rest at Ferncliff Cemetery in his hometown of Springfield, OH.

Warren's service to our Nation and his contributions to the food service industry will not be forgotten. My sympathies go out to Warren's two surviving children, Sherrie and Drew, and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.