NY area lawmakers: House GOP scraps vote Sandy aid
WASHINGTON (AP) — New York area-lawmakers in both parties erupted in anger late Tuesday night after learning the House Republican leadership decided to allow the current term of Congress to end without holding a vote on aide for victims of Superstorm Sandy.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said he was told by the office of Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia that plans were to abandon a vote.
Cantor, who sets the House schedule, did not immediately comment.
A spokesman for Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, Michael Steel said, "The speaker is committed to getting this bill passed this month."
In remarks on the House floor, King called the decision "absolutely inexcusable, absolutely indefensible. We cannot just walk away from our responsibilities."
The Senate approved a $60.4 billion measure Friday to help with recovery from the October storm that devastated parts of New York, New Jersey and nearby states. The House Appropriations Committee has drafted a smaller, $27 billion measure, and a vote had been expected before Congress' term ends Thursday at noon.
More than $2 billion in federal funds has been spent so far on relief efforts for 11 states and the District of Columbia struck by the storm, one of the worst ever to hit the Northeast. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund still has about $4.3 billion, enough to pay for recovery efforts into early spring, according to officials.
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, District of Columbia, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, New Hampshire, Delaware, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are receiving federal aid.
Sandy was blamed for at least 120 deaths and battered coastline areas from North Carolina to Maine. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were the hardest hit states and suffered high winds, flooding and storm surges. The storm damaged or destroyed more than 72,000 homes and businesses in New Jersey. In New York, 305,000 housing units were damaged or destroyed and more than 265,000 businesses were affected.
"This is an absolute disgrace and the speaker should hang his head in shame," said Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.
"I'm here tonight saying to myself for the first time that I'm not proud of the decision my team has made," said Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y. "It is the wrong decision, and I' m going to be respectful and ask that the speaker reconsider his decision. Because it's not about politics, it's about human lives."
"I truly feel betrayed this evening," said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y.
"We need to be there for all those in need now after Hurricane Sandy," said Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y.
The House Democratic leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, said she didn't know whether a decision has been made and added, "We cannot leave here doing nothing. That would be a disgrace."
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said he was told by the office of Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia that plans were to abandon a vote.
Cantor, who sets the House schedule, did not immediately comment.
A spokesman for Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, Michael Steel said, "The speaker is committed to getting this bill passed this month."
In remarks on the House floor, King called the decision "absolutely inexcusable, absolutely indefensible. We cannot just walk away from our responsibilities."
The Senate approved a $60.4 billion measure Friday to help with recovery from the October storm that devastated parts of New York, New Jersey and nearby states. The House Appropriations Committee has drafted a smaller, $27 billion measure, and a vote had been expected before Congress' term ends Thursday at noon.
More than $2 billion in federal funds has been spent so far on relief efforts for 11 states and the District of Columbia struck by the storm, one of the worst ever to hit the Northeast. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund still has about $4.3 billion, enough to pay for recovery efforts into early spring, according to officials.
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, District of Columbia, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, New Hampshire, Delaware, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are receiving federal aid.
Sandy was blamed for at least 120 deaths and battered coastline areas from North Carolina to Maine. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were the hardest hit states and suffered high winds, flooding and storm surges. The storm damaged or destroyed more than 72,000 homes and businesses in New Jersey. In New York, 305,000 housing units were damaged or destroyed and more than 265,000 businesses were affected.
"This is an absolute disgrace and the speaker should hang his head in shame," said Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.
"I'm here tonight saying to myself for the first time that I'm not proud of the decision my team has made," said Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y. "It is the wrong decision, and I' m going to be respectful and ask that the speaker reconsider his decision. Because it's not about politics, it's about human lives."
"I truly feel betrayed this evening," said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y.
"We need to be there for all those in need now after Hurricane Sandy," said Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y.
The House Democratic leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, said she didn't know whether a decision has been made and added, "We cannot leave here doing nothing. That would be a disgrace."
%#@k these politicians that filled the Hurricane Sandy relief bill with pork. Good for the ones that didn't allow it to come to a vote. Those that added the pork to the aid bill, their names should be made public, and they should be voted out of office. We can not afford any more of politicians BS pork spending. Remove the pork, then by all means, pass the bill immediately.
The Republican party are nothing but Trolls. They do not care for the American people. Where are their heads.
 @Luckylucy 57% of veterans are Republicans.  Do you think the brave men and women that served their country don't care about it?  Your comment is inane to say the least. I don't like a lot about either of the major political parties, but that doesn't mean the members of them don't care about their country.
Same song different verse. It's a disgrace.
Ha Ha Ha! Â Just think of how many of these folks who owned McMansions on the beach denounced the concept of climate change and voted for the GOP.
@Ed Ruttledge HA HA HA; just think how ignorant you sound making fun of people who are suffering (as well as their children) after a disaster.
 @iamtroglodite  @Ed ... and how many of them, before the storm, preached personal responsibility, self-reliance and reducing government assistance/the role of government in their lives.  Just saying.
60 Billion dollars? For what, so city's can let people rebuild in the same places again? One would assume that civic leaders did not learn from the hurricane of 1938, that storm devastated the same area as Sandy. Then there was the 1954 hurricane that also devastated the same general area. I look at these so called intelligent civic leaders and wonder how they can justifies this madness. Now back to the 60 billion dollar question, how much pork was buried in the bill and how much was to borrowed from some foreign lender?
As the saying goes, this country does not have an income problem, it has a spending problem. BTW were is the money that concert raised?
@gannon bill gannon "so city's can let people rebuild in the same places again" well I guess we could relocate everyone from the area to Arizona. I'm sure the entire Eastern seaboard would love that idea. Everyone East of the Rockies, move west, but not to California, not near a volcano, not on the coast, and not in any location that might flood.
 @JTesla  @gannon The bill was filled with PORK.
That's $12,970 thousands of million, so about $13 billion for "future disasters."
Here's the agency program amount (in millions of dollars), as outlined by Zients:
Agency Program Amount
Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, Watershed and
Flood Prevention Operations
$ 150
Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Operations, Research, and Facilities
$ 360
Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction
$ 100
Department of Housing and
Urban Development
Community Planning and Development, Community
Development Fund
$ 2,000
Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service, Resource Management $ 400
Department of
Transportation
Federal Transit Administration, Public Transportation
Emergency Relief Program
$ 5,500
Corps of Engineers Investigations $ 30
Corps of Engineers Construction $ 3,820
Environmental Protection
Agency
State and Tribal Assistance Grants $ 610
Â
Then I also found somewhere there was 300 million for Amtrak. This just reeks of a corrupt government. You all out there claim it's the republicans fault, but the bill was written by the democrats.
 @gannon bill gannon I love when "You all" use "You all", who are you talking to? Personally, I blame them all.
Wow! The devastating power of wind and water is overwhelming! And the power of congress to drag their feet to the last second is underwhelming. Sorry guys and girls on the east coast, our bit-ches in Washington are too buisy ruffling their feathers and bickering between parties to do anything important :>(
Just wondering.....
Aren't homes on the beach, near water, or in a flood zone  supposed to have flood insurance?
 @kramr The (tax subsidized) flood insurance is usually only required by a mortgage lender (and then only if the structure is identified as being in a flood zone).  If the mortgage is paid off (or, perhaps, the house was inherited, gifted, etc.), the owner may forego the cost of the insurance and take his/her chances.Â
@Ed Ruttledge   """"""the owner may forego the cost of the insurance and take his/her chances."""""
Â
If thats the case, they rolled the dice, it came up snake eyes  and bit them. No federal funds for them. IMHO,  Rewarding irresponsible behavior is unacceptable.
Â
@kramr I think the outfit in the photo probably has (or, at least should) but the article is including others all over. They just use the worst pictures to emphasize(sensationalize?) the story so more people will be "interested". Nothing like a picture of devastation to grab someones eye.
Come on... I'm fully expecting President Obama to make this right. Just like he promised before his reelection.
I bet, if the there was something major to hit Wall street I bet there would be funding to aid in rebuilding it.
 @lee986321 Something major to hit Wall Street like Hurricane Sandy? It did hit Wall Street.
What the Hell?