Making Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2010--Continued

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Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, the worst natural disaster since the President took office was the recent flooding in Tennessee. There are 13,000 painters, plumbers, carpenters in Nashville alone, who have 11,000 structures to work on. They will get fined up to $37,500 a day if they disturb six square feet of lead paint in a home unless they get this certificate, and there are only three EPA trainers in the entire State of Tennessee to train them. This is making it harder and more expensive for people to get their homes fixed after the flood. Senator Collins has a reasonable amendment to give them until September to get their certification. Earlier today my colleague on the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Boxer, said that the EPA had granted a waiver to Tennessee because of the President's disaster declaration for 45 counties. Well that is true. However, the waiver means that if your basement was flooded--and there was lead paint--then you could bulldoze the house but not repair the basement. That's not the kind of relief we were looking for in Tennessee. Thank you, Mr. President, and I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.

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Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I thank the chairman and the vice chairman for their comments and their work on this bill, particularly the assistance they have worked to provide to my state. As my colleagues know, the amount of property damage in Tennessee may be more than $10 billion and is the worst natural disaster since President Obama has been in office. While the funding in this bill is important and significant for Tennessee and Rhode Island, it represents only the beginning of what is needed in my state, and I ask for the chairman and vice chairman's continuing support for additional funding for recovery efforts in Tennessee.

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