I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1795 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

Act to modify the terms of the community disaster loan program, to 

authorize assistance under that program for losses related to the terrorist 

attacks of September 11, 2001, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 21, 2005 

Mrs. MALONEY (for herself, Mr. OWENS, Mr. ISRAEL, and Mr. SERRANO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to modify the terms of the community disaster loan program, to authorize assistance under 

that program for losses related to the terrorist attacks 

of September 11, 2001, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘ ‘Whatever It Takes’ 

5 To Rebuild Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) Major disasters, including disasters caused 

2 by terrorist acts, often result in a decline in eco3 nomic activity in areas affected by the disaster and 

4 a reduction in tax collections by State and local gov5 ernments serving those areas. 

6 (2) A report of the General Accounting Office 

7 entitled ‘‘Review of the Estimates for the Impact of 

8 the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks on New 

9 York Tax Revenues’’, dated July 26, 2002, found 

10 the following estimates by the New York City and 

11 State budget offices to be reasonably approximate— 

12 (A) for fiscal year 2002, tax revenue losses 

13 for New York City will be $1,600,000,000 and 

14 tax revenue losses for the State of New York 

15 will be $1,600,000,000; and 

16 (B) for fiscal year 2003, tax revenue losses 

17 for New York City will be $1,400,000,000 and 

18 tax revenue losses for the State of New York 

19 will be $4,200,000,000. 

20 (3) Under the community disaster loan program 

21 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘CDL program’’), 

22 as authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

23 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, the President 

24 may make loans to a local government suffering a 

25 substantial loss of tax and other revenues as a result 
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1 of a major disaster, if the local government dem2 onstrates a need for financial assistance in order to 

3 perform its governmental function. 

4 (4) The President may cancel the repayment of 

5 all or any part of a loan made to a local government 

6 under the CDL program if revenues following the 

7 disaster are insufficient to meet the operating budg8 et of that local government as a result of disaster9 related revenue losses and additional unreimbursed 

10 disaster-related municipal operating expenses. In the 

11 case of a major disaster resulting from a terrorist 

12 attack, repayment of interest or principal on a loan 

13 made under the CDL program should not be re14 quired. 

15 (5) Assistance provided under the CDL pro16 gram in the past has been instrumental in aiding the 

17 full recovery of local governments following a major 

18 disaster. 

19 (6) The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 estab20 lished a $5,000,000 limitation on loans made to a 

21 local government under the CDL program in connec22 tion with a major disaster. Before the date of enact23 ment of that Act, there was not any limitation on 

24 the amount of such loans. 
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1 (7) The $5,000,000 limitation is inequitable 

2 when applied to a local government serving a largely 

3 populated area, such as New York City, and is in4 consistent with the objective of the CDL program to 

5 provide meaningful assistance to a local government 

6 recovering from a major disaster. 

7 (8) Following the terrorist attacks of September 

8 11, 2001, President George W. Bush has been fre9 quently quoted as directing the Federal Government 

10 to do ‘‘whatever it takes’’ to help New York City re11 cover and rebuild. In this spirit of resolve, assistance 

12 should be provided to New York City and the State 

13 of New York for the loss of tax and other revenues 

14 as a direct result of these attacks. 

15 SEC. 3. COMMUNITY DISASTER LOANS. 

16 (a) ELIGIBILITY OF STATES.—Section 417 of the 

17 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist18 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5184) is amended by striking ‘‘local 

19 government’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘State 

20 or local government’’. 

21 (b) AMOUNT.—Section 417(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 5184(b)) is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘based on need, shall’’ and in24 serting ‘‘based on need and shall’’; and 
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘, and shall not exceed 

2 $5,000,000’’. 

3 (c) MAJOR DISASTERS CAUSED BY TERRORIST AT4 TACKS.—Section 417 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5184) is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(e) MAJOR DISASTERS CAUSED BY TERRORIST AT7 TACKS.—The President shall not require the payment of 

8 any interest or principal on a loan made under this section 

9 to a State or local government which may suffer a sub10 stantial loss of tax and other revenues as a result of a 

11 major disaster caused by a terrorist attack.’’. 

12 (d) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

13 section shall apply with respect to any major disaster oc14 curring on or after October 30, 2000. 

15 SEC. 4. COMMUNITY DISASTER LOANS FOR LOSSES RE16 LATED TO TERRORIST ATTACKS OF SEP17 TEMBER 11, 2001. 

18 The President is authorized to make loans to New 

19 York City and the State of New York under section 417 

20 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

21 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5184), as amended by this Act, 

22 for losses of tax and other revenues as a result of the 

23 major disaster caused by the terrorist attacks of Sep24 tember 11, 2001. Subject to the availability of appropria25 tions, the total amount of such loans shall be 
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1 $8,800,000,000 or such greater amount as is determined 

2 by the President to be necessary to cover such losses. In 

3 accordance with section 417(e) of such Act, as added by 

4 section 3(c) of this Act, the President shall not require 

5 the payment of any interest or principal on such loans. 

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