The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Black, will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Eternal god, your words are pure. When hate seems to triumph, surround us with your protection and favor. Have mercy upon our nation and world. Lord, the wicked are often exalted as they blaspheme and destroy. May our lawmakers not permit inaction to derail liberty. How long will the enemies of freedom seem to prevail . Awake us all and use us for your glory, for we trust in your mercy. We pray in your great name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Grassley madam president . The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley i ask to speak in morning business for one minute. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassl
Night, with the voice activated system that notifies people that if they do call 911 that their call is being processed. That is significant, because with the system we were experience earlier, the constant rain in thinking that the system was down. It is the long awaited calls, so stay on the line. We are encouraging citizens that if they ever receive any calls from relatives that they have contacted 911 previously, do not follow up with that. Do not test 911, we are experiencing an abundance of calls. We do have a good grasp on that, we are encouraging people that if they need 911, dial the line, you will process the call. What about the status report . Extreme emergencies, lifethreatening situations. The status report is not lifethreatening, so we discourage those types of calls, and we really want to keep the lines open for lifethreatening situations. Do not follow up with it. We are receiving all types of messages from all around the region. We are processing them. We are putting
hurricane harvey disaster relief fund. that will be needed as people, after the storm has passed. the needs for people and families will continue. certainly, they are going to make requests on fema and other agencies. what we discovered last year is you have to have immediate concerns in housing, clothing, transportation, you name it. houston stepped up in a major, major way last time. that s been established and people are starting to contribute. that will be a tremendous need. i want to thank people like clay walker and others who reached out to me and said, look, we are available. kevin hart indicating and asking people to give. there are a number. i can t exxon shell, they have indicated and contributed to red cross. there s a tremendous need there. some contributing to hurricane disaster relief fund.
will be needed as people after the storm has passed, the need for people and families will continue. certainly they are going to be making requests, but what we have discovered last year is that you have to have some immediate concerns, whether it is in housing, clothing, transportation, you name it. people have stepped up in a major way less time, so that fund has been established, people have started to contribute. that will be a tremendous need. i want to think people like clay walker and others who have reached out to me and said, look, we are available. i want to think people like kevin hart who is indicating an effort for people to give. whether it is exxon child, all of them have contributed to red cross, that is a tremendous need. some will be contributing to their hurricane disaster relief fund which is houston and that area, so that is set up.