09.13.11

Conrad, Hoeven Call for Additional Disaster Assistance for Communities in North Dakota and Across the Nation

Senators Urge Leaders to Look to CDBG Funds for Additional Disaster Relief

Washington - Senator Kent Conrad and John Hoeven today urged the leaders of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee to provide additional relief funding in wake of the severe natural disasters that struck communities in North Dakota and across the nation this year. 

In a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Vice Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss), Senators Conrad and Hoeven ask them to consider providing supplemental appropriations for disaster recovery programs in the Fiscal Year 2012 appropriations bills. 

"Our country has a long history of responsiveness to those who have experienced severe natural disasters. Virtually every time disaster occurs, Congress provides supplemental funding to help those who have been hardest hit.  In that vein, we now ask that you consider providing supplemental appropriations for disaster recovery programs as you write your Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 appropriations bills ," wrote Senators Conrad and Hoeven.  

Senators Conrad and Hoeven suggested the Appropriations leaders look to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program as an effective, efficient and flexible tool for providing funding for disaster recovery.  

CDBG funding was instrumental in helping Grand Forks recover for the devastating floods of 1997.  

"From tornadoes in the southeast and Midwest, to wildfires in the west and southwest, flooding in the Midwest, and the effects of Hurricane Irene on the eastern seaboard and New England, many communities across our country have been hit hard by natural disasters.  Although these events have, in many cases, faded from the headlines, thousands of families in dozens of communities face a long, tough road to rebuild," Senators Conrad and Hoeven said.  

A bipartisan group of senators signed on in support of the Conrad - Hoeven letter.