October 30, 2013 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S7667 her poor vision keeps her from seeing herself Tarleton’s new face. ‘‘I get to feel my moth- The long-term solvency of the Na- clearly unless she holds a mirror up close. ‘‘I er’s skin again, I get to see my mother’s tional Flood Insurance Program is crit- don’t yet feel it is my face,’’ she wrote in a freckles, and through you, I get to see my ical to protecting taxpayer invest- recent blog post. ‘‘I feel like I am still bor- mother live on,’’ the daughter, Marinda ments, communicating perceived flood rowing it.’’ Righter, told Ms. Tarleton in May. The two Ms. Tarleton’s former husband, Herbert have kept in touch, and Ms. Tarleton said risk to homeowners, and encouraging Rodgers, 58, pleaded guilty to a charge of she could feel Ms. Righter’s loss ‘‘so strong- communities to invest in mitigation maiming and is serving a prison sentence of ly’’—another complicating factor as she ad- measures. The rates imposed by the at least 30 years. Mr. Rodgers told the police justs. legislation we adopted last summer are that he had been angry at Ms. Tarleton, be- One Tuesday in August, Ms. Tarleton made working against those worthy goals. lieving she was seeing another man after her way yet again to Brigham and Women’s, they separated. where doctors monitor the level of anti-re- A constituent from Ocean Springs, Ms. Tarleton underwent a number of recon- jection medications in her blood and take bi- MS, contacted my office to give her structive surgeries, but with little success. opsies of the skin on her neck—which is the perspective on the legislation. She When Dr. Pomahac called in May 2011 to pro- donor’s—to look for any sign of rejection. wrote: ‘‘Built in 1986, [my house] sur- pose a face transplant, Ms. Tarleton’s mind Ms. Tarleton has undergone nearly 60 oper- first leapt to a ‘‘Twilight Zone’’ episode that vived all hurricanes including Katrina. ations, mostly skin grafts, at Brigham and I used my retirement savings to buy had jarred her as a child, about a man who Women’s and has visited 21 times since her could change his appearance to look like latest release in March. On this day she was the house. Before closing, flood insur- other people. exhausted, recovering from a bad headache ance was grandfathered at $245.00 per ‘‘Initially I felt that it was very sci-fi,’’ she the previous night and a recent fall that had year. After closing, the rate sky- said in a recent interview while curled on the left her with an aching foot. But she had a rocketed to $18,450. You can understand couch in the modest home she shares with bit of good news for her doctors. my shock.’’ If you do the math, her her two daughters. But she and her family ‘‘If I put my head on Sheldon’s chest, I can started researching, and after a few weeks of new rates are more than 75 times the feel his hair,’’ she said, ‘‘and I couldn’t be- weighing the pros and cons—for one thing, rate when she purchased her home. fore.’’ she is likely to be on immunosuppressant Ms. Tarleton also met with Bridget Bowl- I heard from Thomas Schafer, the drugs for the rest of her life, raising her risk er, a speech therapist who is helping her Mayor of Diamondhead, MS. This city of infection and cancer—Ms. Tarleton de- learn to move her new lips—where nerve cided to forge ahead. in Hancock County was ‘‘ground zero’’ After a number of trips to Boston for phys- function typically takes the longest to re- for Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Mayor ical and psychological screening to deter- turn in transplant recipients—and practice Schafer called this legislation a ‘‘dev- mine if she was a good candidate, she got on facial expressions. She still has an air of the astating loss to [his] community,’’ the donor list that fall. ‘‘It was like a big ventriloquist when she speaks, a habit that Ms. Bowler is trying to help her shake. pointing specifically to ‘‘plummeting surprise, a big gift,’’ she said. ‘‘I’d already property values with increased cost of accepted my disfigurement, fine. But I ac- ‘‘One of these days in the near future,’’ Ms. cepted it believing there wasn’t an alter- Tarleton said, ‘‘when I start to cry or I flood insurance.’’ native.’’ laugh, you’re going to be able to tell by look- These are communities that suffered The things Ms. Tarleton wanted from a ing at me how I feel.’’ These days, Ms. Tarleton has returned to the greatest natural disaster in our Na- new face were more pragmatic than aes- tion’s history in 2005, the effects of the thetic. Tight bands of scars ringed her neck, her hard-charging self. Her summer included causing debilitating pain. She drooled con- speaking engagements, weekend road trips Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, and stantly and could not blink, jeopardizing a and late-night jam sessions with Mr. Stein now this. synthetic cornea in her left eye. And with and his musician friends. She decided to take The bill I join my colleagues in intro- up the banjo in addition to the piano, be- her face frozen from scarring, it was hard for ducing today aims to restrain the rate others to read her emotions. cause she wanted to join in the jams. ‘‘Our For a time, she was devastated that she whole lives,’’ she said, ‘‘are just about expe- increases to homeowners that are very could not see ‘‘the old me,’’ as she put it. But rience.’’ troublesome. she moved on, writing a book about her Ms. Blandin said Ms. Tarleton’s new face Under this bill, the Federal Emer- physical and emotional recovery from the at- has helped mute the grief she still feels gency Management Agency must pro- tack and speaking publicly about the experi- about the horrible damage done by the lye ence. She seemed mostly unconcerned about attack. ‘‘Now I just feel like a warm nos- vide assurances to Congress that it is her appearance. talgia: I know you and I haven’t forgotten using sound mapping methods to make But in December 2012, she gained a more you,’’ she said of her sister’s original face. flood insurance rate determinations. A urgent desire for a new face. She had started ‘‘She’s still Carmen in some ways, but in study by the National Academies of taking piano lessons at a music shop not far other ways she’s someone new and the face Science produced in March of this year from her home. Her teacher was Sheldon transplant represents that.’’ has called into question some of the en- Stein, an earthy, soft-spoken musician with But Ms. Tarleton’s daughters, Liza, 21, and gineering practices FEMA uses to de- whom she felt an instant affinity. The feel- Hannah, 19, who live with her in a red barn ing, it turned out, was mutual. The two say that has been converted to apartments, on a termine rates. Before we let these rates they are in love. hill thick with wildflowers, were more mat- devalue private property and perhaps ‘‘I kept looking in the mirror all of a sud- ter-of-fact when discussing her trans- even devastate local economies, we den when I met Sheldon,’’ she said. ‘‘I wasn’t formation, perhaps intentionally. need to be absolutely sure our prac- insecure before. But now—now you have feel- ‘‘Mom’s going to do what she’s going to tices and procedures are as sound as ings for somebody and now you have some- do,’’ Liza said. possible. thing to lose, when before, one of the reasons Hannah chimed in. ‘‘And we’re going to get I did so well is I had nothing to lose any- used to it,’’ she said, laughing. Second, FEMA must complete the af- more.’’ ‘‘And we’re going to support it,’’ Liza fordability study mandated by the After the operation, she went through a added, ‘‘for sure.’’ same legislation that is driving insur- harrowing three weeks when her immune With that, Liza got up to make her mother ance rates up. If rates become so high system rejected the face. But medications a hot dog. Ms. Tarleton took her spot on the that homeowners cannot participate in helped her accept the new tissue. And some couch, a barely perceptible smile flickering the program, or entire communities of the improvements she had hoped for came across her face. shortly after. Her neck pain disappeared, and opt out of the program, all participants f her left eyelid, immobile for years, began to in the program will suffer from a blink again. The drooling diminished, and is HOMEOWNER FLOOD INSURANCE smaller risk pool. It is important that likely to stop once she gets more feeling in AFFORDABILITY ACT we understand the implications of her lips. Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I am these rates before we allow them to The transplant did not make Ms. Tarleton ruin people’s lives and communities. look like her donor, Cheryl Denelli Righter pleased to be a cosponsor of the Home- of North Adams, Mass., who died at 56 after owner Flood Insurance Affordability I am pleased with the work accom- a stroke. That is a typical outcome for face Act. This bipartisan, bicameral legisla- plished by the bipartisan group of Sen- transplant recipients, partly because their tion seeks to protect homeowners ators who introduced this bill.