WASHINGTON - More than 10 weeks after superstorm Sandy brutalized parts of the heavily populated Northeast, the House approved $50.7 billion in emergency relief for the victims Tuesday night as Republican leaders struggled to close out an episode that exposed painful party divisions inside Congress and out.
The vote was 241-180, and officials said the Senate was likely to accept the measure early next week and send it to President Barack Obama for his signature. Democrats supported the aid in large numbers, while majority Republicans opposed it by a lopsided margin.
"We are not crying wolf here," said Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., one of a group of Northeastern lawmakers from both parties who sought House passage of legislation roughly in line with what the Obama administration and governors of the affected states have sought.
Democrats were more politically pointed as they brushed back Southern conservatives who sought either to reduce the measure or offset part of its cost through spending cuts elsewhere in the budget.
"I just plead with my colleagues not to have a double standard," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York. "Not to vote tornado relief to Alabama, to Louisiana, to Mississippi, Missouri, to - with Ike, Gustav, Katrina, Rita - but when it comes to the Northeast, with the second worst storm in the history of our country, to delay, delay, delay."
One key vote came on an attempt by Rep. Rodney Freylinghuysen to add $33.7 billion to an original allotment of $17 billion in aid. That roll call was 228-192 and Democrats broke 190-2 in favor, while Republicans opposed it overwhelmingly, 190-38.
Similarly, on final passage, 192 Democrats joined 49 Republicans in support. Opposed were 179 Republicans and one Democrat.
Earlier, conservatives failed in an attempt to offset a part of the bill's cost with across-the-board federal budget cuts. The vote was 258-162.
Rep. Mark Mulvaney, R-S.C., arguing for the reduction, said he wasn't trying to torpedo the aid package, only to pay for it. "Are there no savings, are there no reductions we can put in place this year so these folks can get their money?" he asked plaintively.
Critics said the proposed cuts would crimp Pentagon spending as well as domestic accounts and said the aid should be approved without reductions elsewhere. "There are times when a disaster simply goes beyond our ability to budget. Hurricane Sandy is one of those times," said Rep. Hal Rogers of Kentucky, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Sandy roared through several states in late October and has been blamed for 140 deaths and billions of dollars in residential and business property damage, much of it in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It led to power outages and interruptions to public transportation that made life miserable for millions, and the clamor for federal relief began almost immediately.
The emerging House measure includes about $16 billion to repair transit systems in New York and New Jersey and a similar amount for housing and other needs in the affected area. An additional $5.4 billion would go to the Federal Emergency and Management Agency for disaster relief, and $2 billion is ticketed for restoration of highways damaged or destroyed in the storm.
The governors of the three states most directly affected praised the congressional action.
"We are grateful to those members of Congress who today pulled together in a unified, bipartisan coalition to assist millions of their fellow Americans in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut at their greatest time of need," said a joint statement issued by New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy. "The tradition of Congress being there and providing support for Americans during times of crisis, no matter where they live across this great country, lives on in today's vote in the House of Representatives."
Original Print Headline: House approves aid for states hit by Sandy
Two Oklahomans tell why they voted no
Oklahoma’s two new House
members voted against the
Hurricane Sandy relief bill
Tuesday.
Republicans Jim Bridenstine
of the 1st District and
Markwayne Mullin of the 2nd
District both said their votes
were because there were no
spending cuts to offset the
supplemental appropriation.
Bridenstine said in a
statement that he voted for
an amendment to offset
spending with savings in
other areas, but the amendment
failed and then he voted
against adding $50.7 billion to
federal spending.
While he feels great compassion
for the storm victims,
‘‘increasing the national debt
by over $60 billion, including
previously approved relief
measures, shows compassion
to no one...
‘‘The United States has a
$16 trillion debt and $1 trillion
annual deficit,’’ Bridenstine’s
statement said. “Next month
the United States will once
again reach its borrowing
limit. Our nation is in a fiscal
crisis that cannot be ignored.’’
Mullin said in a statement
that “While there were many
noble and worthwhile causes
presented in the final bill tonight,
I simply could not support
it because it was not paid
for. My upbringing and faith
tell me to be willing to give
the shirt off my back to those
in need but we cannot give of
something we don’t have...
“Had this bill been paid for
and not added additional debt
to economy and citizens, I
would have gladly supported
it.’’
But Tom Cole, Oklahoma
4th District Republican who
voted for the bill, was quoted
by the Gannett Washington
Bureau as saying his state has
benefited from federal disaster
relief in the past — particularly
after the Oklahoma
City bombing in 1995 — and
failing to support the Sandy
aid would be hypocritical.
“We have a national
interest in getting this region
back on its feet as quickly as
possible, not only because it’s
the right thing to do, and it
certainly is that, but because
it’s the smart thing to do,”
Cole said. “Over 13 percent
of our citizens live in the four
most affected states that
were damaged by Hurricane
Sandy, and collectively they
produce over 17 percent of the
wealth of this country. Having
that area up, operational
and prosperous is critical to
the prosperity of the entire
country."
— FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
