Congressman Jim Nussle, the chairman of the U-S House Budget Committee, says Congress will do whatever necessary to help hurricane recovery efforts, but he’s frustrated there’s not money set aside for emergencies like natural disasters. “But Congress has decided to do it on an ad hoc basis, and we will respond,” Nussle says. “We’re in the process of gathering the information we need to determine what is the right level of resources we need to make sure that this is dealt with appropriately.” Nussle suggested in 2001 that the federal government create a “rainy day” fund to tap when such natural disasters occur. “There is no reason at all why the federal government should not recognize that from year to year we have approximately about 6- to 8-billion dollars, on average, of natural disaster resources that are requested. Everything from a forest fire to a tornado to major disasters of earthquakes and hurricane and northeasters,” Nussle says. “We know they’re coming. We don’t know exactly where they’ll strike, but we know it’s costly and we should plan for them.”
