I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6750 
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
Act to modify the terms of the community disaster loan program, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 31, 2008 
Mrs. MALONEY of New York 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, 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’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Major disasters, including natural disasters 
and disasters caused by terrorist acts, often result in 
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a decline in economic activity in areas affected by 
the disaster and a reduction in tax collections by 
State and local governments serving those areas. 
(2) A report of the Government Accountability 
Office entitled ‘‘September 11: Recent Estimates of 
Fiscal Impact of 2001 Terrorist Attack on New 
York’’, dated March 2005, confirmed prior estimates 
that— 
(A) 
New 
York 
City 
lost 
between 
$2,500,000,000 and $2,900,000,000 in tax rev-
enues for fiscal years 2002 and 2003; and 
(B) 
the 
State 
of 
New 
York 
lost 
$2,900,000,000 for fiscal years 2002 and 2003. 
(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 
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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. 
(5) Assistance made available under the CDL 
program is often instrumental in aiding the full re-
covery of a local government following a major dis-
aster. 
(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 such Act, there was not any limitation on 
the amount of such loans. 
(7) The $5,000,000 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. 
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 
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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) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by 
striking ‘‘based on need, shall’’ and inserting ‘‘based 
on need and shall’’; and 
(2) in paragraphs (1) and (2) by striking ‘‘, 
and shall not exceed $5,000,000’’. 
(c) CATASTROPHIC EVENTS.—Section 417 of such 
Act (42 U.S.C. 5184) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(e) CATASTROPHIC EVENTS.—In the case a loan 
made under this section to a State or local government 
which may suffer a substantial loss of tax and other reve-
nues as a result of a major disaster that the President 
determines to be a catastrophic event— 
‘‘(1) the amount of the loan shall not be subject 
to the percentage limitations in subsection (b); and 
‘‘(2) the President shall not require the pay-
ment of any interest or principal on a loan.’’. 
Æ 
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