Manchin Proposes Amendment to Pay For Disaster Relief with $1.6 Billion in Afghanistan Funding
On Senate floor Manchin says the petty squabbles that define Congress must end
Washington, D.C. – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) today said that the petty, partisan squabbles that define Congress must end, and he offered an amendment to pay for the Federal Emergency Management Agency by eliminating $1.6 billion from programs that will fund nation building in Afghanistan. Senator Manchin expressed his enormous frustration – and that of the American people – at watching our nation’s leaders engaged in yet another political exercise – this time over funding for disaster relief.
“There is not a state in this great nation that hasn’t suffered the terrible tragedy and cost of a natural disaster. While there are many government programs and issues we should vigorously debate, we surely cannot question the responsibility of government to help our communities in their darkest moments,” Senator Manchin said. “In the America that I believe in, we don’t look the other way when a community is suffering from the pain of a natural disaster, we stand up and offer a helping hand.”
As Senator Manchin outlined in his speech, because of the difficult fiscal reality confronting the nation, American taxpayer dollars should be used to rebuild America, not Afghanistan. He said that this country has no business allowing billions to be lost to waste and corruption in Afghanistan, all while ignoring the needs of our neighbors in America who are suffering from the effects of tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes and who need shelter and food.
Rather than eliminating funds for nation-building in Afghanistan, the program that some Members of Congress have proposed cutting in order to pay for disaster relief is the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, which is credited with saving or creating 39,000 American jobs. It is a program with support from both the Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. In fact, Ford has moved a hybrid battery facility from Mexico to Michigan because of this loan program. Senator Manchin said we should not cut programs that help create American jobs – nor should we deny disaster relief funds – while we are spending billions to rebuild Afghanistan.
“Yes, we all agree that funding for disaster relief should be paid for – in these most difficult times and especially now that we are looking at these deficits that we have accrued,” Senator Manchin said. “Yes, we must save and set aside that money. As my grandfather once told me, you can’t give someone the shirt off your back if you don’t have a shirt to give them. We have to plan and work hard to make sure we put ourselves in a position to help others. Yes, we must return to a path of fiscal responsibility, where we manage our budgets wisely and put away enough money for the eventual disasters that we know will strike.
“But it is wrong – no ifs, ands or buts about it – absolutely wrong – to pay for disaster relief out of funds that are creating jobs, with the potential of creating more jobs.”
“… As I have said before, we must choose between rebuilding Afghanistan, and rebuilding America. And, today, we can make that choice. I choose to rebuild America.”
Full text of the Senator’s remarks as prepared for delivery are below:
M. President,
I rise today to address the enormous frustration the American people must feel at witnessing their government and their leaders engaging in another futile political exercise.
Incredibly, our government is being driven to the threat of yet another shutdown over something we all agree must be funded – disaster relief.
There is not a state in this great nation that hasn’t suffered the terrible tragedy and cost of a natural disaster. While there are many government programs and issues we should vigorously debate, we surely cannot question the responsibility of government to help our communities in their darkest moments.
M. President, in the America that I believe in, we don’t look the other way when a community is suffering from the pain of a natural disaster, we stand up and offer a helping hand.
It is this spirit of helping each other that has defined this nation since its very beginning, and we cannot let politics destroy that spirit.
Our belief in helping each other is a bedrock value for this country, and it runs much deeper than a belief in a political party. We are Americans, and for the sake of this great nation I know we all love, these petty squabbles that define this place must end.
That is why we must fund FEMA disaster relief, and why I voted for a Senate bill that would fund FEMA through the end of the fiscal year.
Yes, we all agree that funding for disaster relief should be paid for – in these most difficult times and especially now that we are looking at these deficits that we have accrued.
Yes, we must save and set aside that money. As my grandfather once told me, you can’t give someone the shirt off your back if you don’t have a shirt to give them. We have to plan and work hard to make sure we put ourselves in a position to help others.
Yes, we must return to a path of fiscal responsibility, where we manage our budgets wisely and put away enough money for the eventual disasters that we know will strike.
But it is wrong – no ifs, ands or buts about it – absolutely wrong – to pay for disaster relief out of funds that are creating jobs, with the potential of creating more jobs.
Are there problems with some programs? Absolutely. Can we fix those programs? Absolutely. And should we eliminate programs that cost too much and offer little return? Absolutely.
But are we so desperate to score political points that we eliminate a program, the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, which has actually helped bring back American jobs?
For the record – that program is credited with saving or creating 39,000 American jobs, most at Ford, an American manufacturer – something we need more of in this country. It is a program with support from both the Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. In fact, Ford actually moved a hybrid battery facility from Mexico to Michigan because of this loan program. Now I can think of a lot of programs that we should fight over, but are we really going to defund a program that has helped bring jobs BACK to America? I don’t think so.
So where do we go from here?
Well, to my Republican and Democratic leaders, I respectfully ask them to consider how simple a choice we face. We can rebuild America, and we can afford to pay for it. We can choose to fund FEMA and afford to pay for it.
We can do all of this if we face the fact that we cannot continue to go into debt and spend billions in Afghanistan, while suggesting that – in order to fund FEMA – we must cut a program that actually helped create American jobs.
M. President, as I have said before, we must choose between rebuilding Afghanistan, and rebuilding America. And, today, we can make that choice. I choose to rebuild America.
At a time when our economy is struggling, and our deficits are exploding, I cannot believe that our leaders in Washington would choose to rebuild other nations at the expense of our own.
We can do better than this, and for the sake of our nation's future, we must do better than this.
We should not engage in political theater that makes the false choice between funding disaster relief or eliminating a jobs program that actually helped create American jobs.
M, President, it is time for us to set our priorities. It is time for us to rebuild America, not rebuild Afghanistan and Iraq. And, helping America rebuild during times of natural disaster must be a priority that cannot be defined by partisanship.
In West Virginia alone, several projects worth nearly half a million dollars have now been put on hold because of this bickering and squabbling. Those projects include funding to help individuals whose property was damaged in the severe snowstorms in 2009 and flooding in 2010, as well as critical equipment that monitors water flow in area prone to flooding – equipment that is vital for forecasting river levels during floods.
This doesn’t make any sense to me, M. President, and I know it doesn’t make any sense to the people of West Virginia. I cannot believe that any American would choose to lose billions more in waste and corruption in Afghanistan while we ignore the needs of our neighbors here at home – our neighbors, who just this year, survived tornadoes, floods and hurricanes and who need shelter and food.
M, President, to that end, I would like to offer the following amendment to offset the cost of funding FEMA by eliminating 1.6 billion dollars from programs that will fund nation-building in Afghanistan and instead direct that money to FEMA…to programs that rebuild America.
Thank you, M. President, and I yield the floor.
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