{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murray.senate.gov/in-senate-floor-speech-senator-murray-commends-rescue-efforts-and-response-to-devastating-flooding-across-wa-vows-to-continue-fighting-for-support-needed-to-rebuild-recover/", "In Senate Floor Speech, Senator Murray Commends Rescue Efforts and Response to Devastating Flooding Across WA, Vows to Continue Fighting for Support Needed to Rebuild & Recover", "2025-12-16", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Murray: \u201cHere\u2019s my message to everyone back in Washington state who is dealing with the aftermath of these devastating floods: I know you have a long road ahead. But I promise you will not walk that road alone. I\u2019ll be with you every step of the way. I\u2019ll be your voice here in Washington D.C. And I will fight tooth and nail to make sure you get the support you need to build and to recover.\u201d\n\nTRI-CITY HERALD: \u2018Just what we do.\u2019 Tri-Cities neighbors come together in Yakima River flood\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s full floor speech; DOWNLOAD HERE***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, took to the Senate floor to deliver remarks on the historic flooding and extreme weather that has wreaked havoc in communities across Washington state over the past week, and to praise the heroic efforts of first responders, members of the Coast Guard and National Guard, local officials, meteorologists, and everyday citizens who have stepped up to respond to the flooding and help people on the frontlines.\n\n\u201cEarlier this morning, we saw the first reported death connected to the flooding\u2014a tragic and sobering reminder of what is at stake,\u201d Senator Murray said on the Senate floor today. \u201cAnd as response and recovery efforts continue across my state, I want to take a moment to recognize the valiant effort of first responders, and teams at all levels coming together to get lifesaving information out to our communities so people can prepare and evacuate, and to go in and rescue people whenever and wherever needed.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis flooding showed, plain as day, how the decisions we make here in D.C. really matter for families back home,\u201d Murray continued. \u201cTwenty years ago, I fought for funding so the City of Mount Vernon could secure a flood wall. This week, that wall paid off big time\u2014preventing major flooding from devastating downtown Mount Vernon. We also saw how other flood prevention infrastructure made a huge difference protecting communities all around my state. That\u2019s an important reminder I want all of my colleagues to remember as we work on these funding bills. Prevention matters. Preparedness matters. Having strong infrastructure and a quick response saves lives\u2026 Because the only thing we ever know about the next crisis is that we need to be ready before it strikes.\u201d\n\nMurray concluded by saying, \u201cHere\u2019s my message to everyone back in Washington state who is dealing with the aftermath of these devastating floods: I know you have a long road ahead. But I promise you will not walk that road alone. I\u2019ll be with you every step of the way. I\u2019ll be your voice here in Washington, D.C. And I will fight tooth and nail to make sure you get the support you need to build and recover.\u201d\n\nLast weekend, Senator Murray visited Snohomish and Skagit Counties to hear about ongoing response efforts and speak with local communities that have been hit hard by major flooding and extreme weather. In Snohomish County, Senator Murray heard from local first responders and emergency management officials and also toured affected areas around the city of Monroe including Tualco Valley and Ben Howard Road. In Skagit County, Senator Murray met with Mount Vernon Mayor Peter Donovan to discuss the ongoing response efforts in the region and to see firsthand how the Skagit County Flood Wall protected downtown Mount Vernon during the historic flooding\u2014Murray secured the federal funds to help build the flood wall back in 2006. Senator Murray also visited the FEMA response center in Bothell to thank the staff for working around the clock to help coordinate local response efforts.\n\nLast Thursday, Senator Murray led Washington state\u2019s entire Congressional delegation in a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to approve Governor Ferguson\u2019s request for an expedited Emergency Declaration for the devastating storms and severe flooding hitting Washington state\u2014that request was approved last Friday. Back in May, Senator Murray led a bipartisan, bicameral letter with over 80 of her colleagues urging Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to reinstate the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, which supports local efforts to protect and harden our communities from natural disaster. Just recently, Washington and a multistate coalition won their lawsuit against the Trump administration over its unlawful attempt to shut down the Federal Emergency Management Agency\u2019s (FEMA) BRIC program. As a longtime senior appropriator, Senator Murray has always fought to secure the federal resources Washington state needs to recover and rebuild from natural disasters\u2014Senator Murray has worked hard to impress upon her colleagues that disaster relief should never be impeded by politics.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered on the Senate floor today, are below:\n\n\u201cThank you, M. President.\n\n\u201cYou know, over the past week, my home state of Washington has experienced catastrophic and record-breaking flooding due to an ongoing atmospheric and winter weather event. It has been devastating, and with more rain coming, and further evacuations underway today, it remains dangerous.\n\n\u201cEarlier this morning, we saw the first reported death connected to the flooding\u2014a tragic and sobering reminder of what is at stake.\n\n\u201cAnd as response and recovery efforts continue across my state, I want to take a moment to recognize the valiant effort of first responders, and teams at all levels coming together to get lifesaving information out to our communities so people can prepare and evacuate, and to go in and rescue people whenever and wherever needed.\n\n\u201cLast week, I led the Washington state delegation in requesting an expedited Emergency Declaration to get federal disaster response resources out to our state.\n\n\u201cI was glad to see that request quickly approved by FEMA. That\u2019s how it should always work. We should always come together in times of tragedy and focus on helping people.\n\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s exactly what I saw happening this past weekend, when I was on the ground in Washington state.\n\n\u201cI met with local officials, businessowners, and families. I saw, up close and personal, what our communities are facing and how they are responding.\n\n\u201cAnd I want to share a few things that were very clear to me this weekend. This flooding showed\u2014plain as day\u2014how the decisions we make here in D.C. really matter for families back home.\n\n\u201cTwenty years ago, I fought for funding so the City of Mount Vernon could secure a flood wall.\n\n\u201cThis week, that wall paid off, big time\u2014preventing major flooding from devastating downtown Mount Vernon.\n\n\u201cWe also saw how flood prevention infrastructure made a huge difference protecting communities all around my state.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s an important reminder I want all of my colleagues to remember as we work on these funding bills. Prevention matters. Preparedness matters. Having strong infrastructure and a quick response saves lives.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why I champion these kinds of investments every year: top notch weather forecasting, resilient infrastructure, disaster preparedness and response, and more.\n\n\u201cBecause the only thing we ever know about the next crisis is that we need to be ready before it strikes.\n\n\u201cAnother thing I saw when I was visiting the frontlines of the flooding this past weekend is how our local, state, tribal, and federal officials are all coming together to do incredible work.\n\n\u201cI really can\u2019t say enough how grateful I am to all the experts and heroes who have been putting in very long hours, solving hard problems, and even putting themselves at risk to save lives and protect our communities during these floods.\n\n\u201cFrom the meteorologists and experts\u2014monitoring and updating all of us on constantly changing conditions.\n\n\u201cLocal officials, firefighters, and police departments\u2014getting out important warnings, and getting people out of harm\u2019s way.\n\n\u201cTo the Coast Guard\u2014doing search operations and flyovers to help evacuate people in danger.\n\n\u201cTo the National Guard\u2014supporting rescue and response missions, staffing traffic control points, and filling sandbags to divert floodwater.\n\n\u201cAnd of course, neighbors\u2014everyday people\u2014stepping up and lending a hand wherever they can help.\n\n\u201cIt truly is inspiring to see.\n\n\u201cNow, one of the most important things I saw this weekend, when I\u2019m hearing from folks about the flood damage, is that we are not out of the woods yet in Washington state, not even close.\n\n\u201cNot when it comes to the immediate threat of these floods, since the rain is continuing this week. Just this morning we saw a levee breach on the White River, and \u2018GO NOW\u2019 evacuations were issued for the City of Pacific in South King County.\n\n\u201cNot when it comes to landslides\u2014which remain a huge risk at the moment.\n\n\u201cAnd certainly not when it comes to recovery. Mitigating disaster, responding to disaster\u2014that is crucial, and we have done a good job so far.\n\n\u201cBut our work is not done until we have tackled recovery.\n\n\u201cAnd while we still don\u2019t know the full scope of this destruction, what we do know is the damage that has already been done is massive.\n\n\u201cEntire neighborhoods and huge swaths of farmland have been flooded. Some roads have buckled, some are covered in debris, some were just simply swept away. Businesses owners are returning to flooded shops and ruined inventory.\n\n\u201cThere are families coming home only to find their house is gone. We have downed trees, we have downed powerlines, damaged wastewater facilities, and breached levees, and again, there will be more destructive flooding to come.\n\n\u201cThe painful truth is: we have a lot of broken pieces floating across Washington state right now.\n\n\u201cIt will be a slow, hard process to put this all back together again and help people get their lives back on track.\n\n\u201cSo, here\u2019s my message to everyone back in Washington state who\u2019s dealing with the tremendous aftermath of these devastating floods: I know you have a long road ahead. But I promise you will not walk that road alone.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll be with you every step of the way. I\u2019ll be your voice here in Washington, D.C. And I will fight tooth and nail to make sure you get the support you need to build and to recover.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/in-senate-floor-speech-senator-murray-commends-rescue-efforts-and-response-to-devastating-flooding-across-wa-vows-to-continue-fighting-for-support-needed-to-rebuild-recover/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5554442070424557, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}