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Remarks Proposing Additional Emergency Disaster Relief Following Tropical Storm Agnes.

July 12, 1972

NO ONE who has ever witnessed a natural disaster can forget the terrible devastation it leaves behind---or can fail to be moved by the heroism and the heartache of those who live through it.

Millions of Americans today are struggling to rebuild their lives in the wake of Tropical Storm Agnes. More than 80 persons perished in the floods that it brought. More than 128,000 homes and businesses have been damaged or destroyed. In terms of the property damage and of the sweeping extent of the territory affected, this has been the worst natural disaster in the whole of America's history.

Confronted with so massive a disaster emergency, our response as a Nation must also be massive. Conscience commands it; humanity impels it.

From the earliest days of our Nation, whenever a disaster or hardship struck, Americans have pulled together, neighbors helping neighbors. That spirit enabled countless thousands to overcome seemingly hopeless obstacles in the past-and it is still a source of strength for America today.

I know, because I saw repeated evidence of that same spirit of neighborliness and sharing when I visited the disaster area in Pennsylvania to inspect the damage firsthand. The destruction and loss were immense, almost overpowering. But even more moving were the spirit, the optimism, the determination of the disaster victims themselves, and that of the government and volunteer workers who were striving side by side with them to undo the damage nature had wrought.

The progress that has been made to date is impressive. Temporary shelter, feeding, and medical treatment have been provided to more than 350,000 people.

Debris removal and restoration of public facilities are underway.

An estimated 70,000 workers who are unemployed as a result of the disaster will be receiving temporary unemployment insurance benefits under regular and disaster assistance programs, and direct Federal payments will create over 50,000 man-years of jobs for workers in affected areas.

All of this is impressive, in the best tradition of American disaster relief work. But, when so extraordinary a disaster strikes, only extraordinary measures-something beyond the normal effort--will suffice.

That is why I am today announcing massive new measures to supplement those which have already been taken. When a friend or relative is stricken hard by an accident or illness, we rally to him. When this large a part of the Nation is stricken by disaster, it is a family affair for all of us, for every American. So, when the Congress reconvenes, I will submit a special request for additional emergency funds totaling more than one billion seven hundred million dollars--the largest single amount ever allocated to recovery efforts in this country.

If the Congress approves these funds, they will be channeled into every aspect of long- and short-term disaster assistance. They will help clear away existing damage. They will help communities begin to build anew. They will restore regular services and facilities in the affected States of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, and Florida.

Never before has so thorough and so all-embracing a recovery effort been launched and never was it more uniquely necessary.

But when we talk about the suffering of States, counties, and communities, we are really talking about the suffering of individual people. Almost invariably, the hardest hit victims of any natural disaster are individual homeowners and small businessmen.

Again, because of the special nature of this disaster, their needs also require special attention. We must not permit the nightmare of destruction which has wrecked so many of their homes and places of business to be followed by the equally grim specter of bankruptcy or ruin.

With this in mind, I shall also propose to the Congress vital legislative action that would authorize special disaster loans to affected homeowners and businessmen at only one percent interest--and with no repayment required on the first $5,000 of the loan. There is no quicker, more effective way of helping the people of these stricken communities to get back on their feet and resume their normal, productive lives than to provide them with this source of low-interest credit for rebuilding their homes and businesses.

Finally, knowing as we do that no amount of effort can be truly effective without cooperation and understanding at all levels of government, I have invited 500 mayors, county executives, and other leaders from disaster-struck communities to attend a special conference with Federal officials to be held in Washington this Friday. Presiding over that conference will be the Vice President 1 and the Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Frank Carlucci. He is a native of one of the hardest hit communities in Pennsylvania--Wilkes-Barre.

1 On July 14, 1972, the White House released a transcript of remarks by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew at the conference.

The purpose of the meeting will be to speed up relief efforts, to explain our proposed new measures, to improve communications between Federal, local, and civic leaders who share the responsibility for directing this massive disaster relief effort.

The challenge we face is not an easy one. But I have faith that, working together, we can overcome the terrible devastation that the floods have left behind. And we can do more than that. We can give the world a shining new example of the kind of proud, vibrant communities Americans can build, even in adversity, when they put their heads and their hearts into the effort.

Note: The President spoke at 9:25 a.m. from his office at the Western White House, San Clemente, Calif. His remarks were broadcast live on radio. He spoke from a prepared text.

On the same day, the White House released a fact sheet on the President's proposals for additional emergency disaster relief.

Richard Nixon, Remarks Proposing Additional Emergency Disaster Relief Following Tropical Storm Agnes. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/254630

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