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  • 6 months ago
In Senate floor remarks on Tuesday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke about the central Texas floods.
Transcript
00:00Mr. President, summer camp is a great memory for so many of us.
00:05We think about the good times we had at the right moment in life with a lot of friends,
00:11learning the basics of swimming and archery and target shooting and other things,
00:16camping out, memories you carry for a lifetime.
00:20Wonderful memories.
00:21A rite of passage for many individuals and many families.
00:25A family tradition passed on to younger siblings and ultimately to our own children and grandchildren.
00:33So many images in our minds over the last several days after the tragedy that occurred in Central Texas.
00:41I know I speak for millions of Americans when I say we're heartbroken
00:44over the flash floods that devastated Central Texas this past weekend.
00:49Early Friday morning, while most were fast asleep, a foot of rain fell onto Texas hill country.
00:56This deluge flowed into the Guadalupe River, causing it to rise by 26 feet in 45 minutes.
01:0526 feet in 45 minutes.
01:08Near the Guadalupe, a girls' sleepaway camp, Camp Mystic, which had been there for 99 years,
01:15was all but destroyed by the floods.
01:17Already, that camp has confirmed that 27 of their campers and counselors died in that flood.
01:2427.
01:26I send my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those campers and counselors.
01:32Tragically, the flooding in Texas continues to take lives.
01:35More than 100 people have perished.
01:38That number is expected to grow, sadly, in the coming days.
01:41In the midst of this disaster, I'm heartened by the kindness and courage shown by the first responders and volunteers.
01:50Twenty separate agencies at every level of government have come together to help save lives.
01:56At Camp Mystic, counselors, many of whom had just graduated from high school,
02:00risked their own lives to save younger campers.
02:03We'll never forget that bravery.
02:07This disaster has impacted people of both political faith, Republicans and Democrats, and independents as well.
02:15I want to say this, and I say this on a reflection of my career in the House and the Senate.
02:22I have never, to my knowledge, never voted against disaster assistance for people in other states in my home state of Illinois.
02:30There but for the grace of God go my people that I represent.
02:34I would hope that the Senate and the House would stand together, Democrats and Republicans,
02:40and say we're going to be there for the victims of this disaster.
02:44I pray that we find the missing loved ones and that we take the necessary steps to stop another tragedy like this from occurring.
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