I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1542
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 1, 2003
Mrs. MALONEY (for herself, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. 
MCNULTY, Mr. OWENS, Mr. NADLER, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. CROWLEY, and 
Mrs. LOWEY) 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 Emer-
gency Assistance Act to modify the terms of the commu-
nity disaster loan program, to authorize assistance under 
that program for losses related to the terrorist attacks 
of September 11, 2001, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘ ‘Whatever It Takes’ 
To Rebuild Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Major disasters, including disasters caused 
by terrorist acts, often result in a decline in eco-
nomic activity in areas affected by the disaster and 
a reduction in tax collections by State and local gov-
ernments serving those areas. 
(2) A report of the General Accounting Office 
entitled ‘‘Review of the Estimates for the Impact of 
the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks on New 
York Tax Revenues’’, dated July 26, 2002, found 
the following estimates by the New York City and 
State budget offices to be reasonably approximate—
(A) for fiscal year 2002, tax revenue losses 
for New York City will be $1,600,000,000 and 
tax revenue losses for the State of New York 
will be $1,600,000,000; and 
(B) for fiscal year 2003, tax revenue losses 
for New York City will be $1,400,000,000 and 
tax revenue losses for the State of New York 
will be $4,200,000,000. 
(3) Under the community disaster loan program 
(in this section referred to as the ‘‘CDL program’’), 
as authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, the President 
may make loans to a local government suffering a
substantial loss of tax and other revenues as a result 
of a major disaster, if the local government dem-
onstrates a need for financial assistance in order to 
preform its governmental function. 
(4) The President may cancel the repayment of 
all or any part of a loan made to a local government 
under the CDL program if revenues following the 
disaster are insufficient to meet the operating budg-
et of that local government as a result of disaster-
related revenue losses and additional unreimbursed 
disaster-related municipal operating expenses. In the 
case of a major disaster resulting from a terrorist 
attack, repayment of interest or principal on a loan 
made under the CDL program should not be re-
quired. 
(5) Assistance provided under the CDL pro-
gram in the past has been instrumental in aiding the 
full recovery of local governments following a major 
disaster. 
(6) The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 estab-
lished a $5,000,000 limitation on loans made to a 
local government under the CDL program in connec-
tion with a major disaster. Before the date of enact-
ment of that Act, there was not any limitation on 
the amount of such loans.
(7) The $5,000,0000 limitation is inequitable 
when applied to a local government serving a largely 
populated area, such as New York City, and is in-
consistent with the objective of the CDL program to 
provide meaningful assistance to a local government 
recovering from a major disaster. 
(8) Following the terrorist attacks of September 
11, 2001, President George W. Bush has been fre-
quently quoted as directing the Federal Government 
to do ‘‘whatever it takes’’ to help New York City re-
cover and rebuild. In this spirit of resolve, assistance 
for should be provided to New York City and the 
State of New York for the loss of tax and other rev-
enues as a direct result of these attacks. 
SEC. 3. COMMUNITY DISASTER LOANS. 
(a) ELIGIBILITY OF STATES.—Section 417 of the 
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist-
ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5184) is amended by striking ‘‘local 
government’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘State 
or local government’’. 
(b) AMOUNT.—Section 417(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
5184(b)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘based on need, shall’’ and in-
serting ‘‘based on need and shall’’; and
(2) by striking ‘‘, and shall not exceed 
$5,000,000’’. 
(c) MAJOR DISASTERS CAUSED BY TERRORIST AT-
TACKS.—Section 417 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5184) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) MAJOR DISASTERS CAUSED BY TERRORIST AT-
TACKS.—The President shall not require the payment of 
any interest or principal on a loan made under this section 
to a State or local government which may suffer a sub-
stantial loss of tax and other revenues as a result of a 
major disaster caused by a terrorist attack.’’. 
(d) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 
section shall apply with respect to any major disaster oc-
curring on or after October 30, 2000. 
SEC. 4. COMMUNITY DISASTER LOANS FOR LOSSES RE-
LATED TO TERRORIST ATTACKS OF SEP-
TEMBER 11, 2001. 
The President is authorized to make loans to New 
York City and the State of New York under section 417 
of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5184), as amended by this Act, 
for losses of tax and other revenues as a result of the 
major disaster caused by the terrorist attacks of Sep-
tember 11, 2002. Subject to the availability of appropria-
tions, the total amount of such loans shall be
$8,800,000,000 or such greater amount as is determined 
by the President to be necessary to cover such losses. In 
accordance with section 417(e) of such Act, as added by 
section 3(c) of this Act, the President shall not require 
the payment of any interest or principal on such loans.
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