The Midwest was hit hard by record flooding during the summer of 2008.  Flood damage to schools alone reached nearly $100 million.

As a result, some schools closed for the rest of the school year, and those that were able to open their doors faced many hurdles on the road to recovery, such as an influx of flood-displaced students, financial challenges, and a decline in property values.

To address short- and long-term needs, immediate education disaster assistance for flood-impacted schools was necessary to ensure that students continued to receive a quality education in the aftermath of this disaster.

As such, I introduced the Midwest Schools Disaster Recovery Act (H.R. 6733), to assist affected schools. Similar to legislation passed following Hurricane Katrina, H.R. 6733 provided flood-impacted schools in the Midwest with disaster aid and flexibility in meeting No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates.

Many of the provisions of my bill and nearly $3 billion for disaster assistance to schools was included in a supplemental emergency funding bill that became law in September 2008.

Read the letter I sent to Appropriations Chairman, David Obey requesting additional disaster assistance.