Trenton, NJ – New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy released the following statement regarding passage today of the disaster relief package by the House of Representatives:
“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 Jersey, New York and Connecticut at their greatest time of need. 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. We anticipate smooth passage when this package moves back to the Senate for final approval and for this long-awaited relief to finally make its way to our residents.”
The House of Representatives approved the first of two bills expected to be voting on today which, if also approved in the U.S. Senate and signed by the Presdient, will provide $50 billion in federal funds to New Jersey, New York and Connecticut to rebuild from the destruction caused by Superstorm Sandy.
The $17 billion approved this afternoon will pay for Sandy clean-up, dredging, small business loans and infrastructure repairs. The $33 billion to be voted on tonight will be for the longer term rebuilding effort.
The bills were split in two to accommodate members of the Republican caucus who support the $17 billion, but not the $33 billion.
According to The Star Ledger, New Jersey Republican Congressmen Frank LoBiondo (NJ-2) and Jon Runyan (NJ-3) ripped into their fellow Republicans for withholding support of the disaster assistance.
“To my colleagues who have sought funding themselves and now say we need to change the rules of the game: shame on you,” Rep. Frank LoBiondo (D-N.J.) said after the vote. “We need to have a new caucus, the hypocritical caucus.”
Rep. Jon Runyan (R-3rd Dist.) said he knew more than 30 of his Republican colleagues who oppose the bill even though they sought similar aid when disaster struck their districts.
“Mr. Speaker — I would say to my friends — why should New Jersey and New York be treated any differently? ” Runyon said. “My friends should ask themselves what would they do if it was their district that suffered the amount of catastrophic loss that many of the families and businesses in my district now face.”
Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone said that Republicans that opposed the aid do not understand the extent of the damage.
More than two months after Hurricane Sandy struck South Jersey, the scars of devastation upon our homes, our businesses, our shoreline and our friends and neighbors remain ever so visible and ever so painful.
Each day our region struggles to recover and residents attempt to rebuild their lives as heightened levels of anxiety, frustration, sadness and anger remain. No one in South Jersey has forgotten Sandy, and it is imperative that Washington not be allowed to overlook the real destruction and critical need our communities continue to face.
As widely reported, some of my colleagues have intentionally delayed aid from reaching affected communities, unnecessarily creating a disaster in dealing with this disaster. Citing the Senate-passed “pork” laden bill, they question if federal resources will truly reach those in need.
I appreciate their concerns and have actively sought to alleviate them by working with the congressional delegations of New Jersey and New York, as well as Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., to strip out extraneous provisions. Thus, as originally planned in the final days of 2012, the bill we are introducing in the House of Representatives on Tuesday should provide federal aid only to states affected by the storm.
Likewise, there are some local opinions that stand against any federal assistance in the aftermath of a wide-scale disaster such as Sandy. They argue individual states and impacted municipalities should be solely responsible for recovery and rebuilding efforts, while federal tax dollars should not be used for “local issues”. I strongly disagree with the shortsighted view that New Jersey, which supported other states as they dealt with disasters and which sends more tax dollars to Washington than it receives, should be short-changed at its time of need.
That is not to say federal aid should be unchecked. In 2005 and 2006, more than $100 billion was sent to the Gulf Coast states, including $60 billion within just 10 days of the storm in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Congressman Chris Smith told MMM that at a meeting held with Speaker John Boehner this afternoon the Speaker promised that action will be taken in January by the House of Representatives on the $60 billion Sandy Relief package that Boehner stopped the House from voting on last night causing a uproar within the Republican Party.
Smith said that Boehner promised that $9.7 billion to restore FEMA reserves will be up for a vote on this Friday, January 4th and that the rest of the $60 billion package will be on the House’s schedule, in two parts, $16.3 billion and $33 billion, on January 15th.
Smith spoke on the House floor late on Tuesday night to implore Boehner to schedule the vote.
House Speaker John Boehner was more effective with tears.
Our nation never should have gotten into the “fiscal cliff” mess. We got there in large measure because Boehner couldn’t control his temper and would not return President Obama’s phone calls after a White House meeting in July of 2011. Boehner said Obama “moved the goal post” after he thought a deal was done. Obama said that there were $1.65 trillion in spending cuts in the deal that Boehner walked from. The “fiscal cliff” deal that passed yesterday raised $650 billion in revenue and reduced spending by $15 billion. Our economy would have been better off if Boehner had been able to control his temper in July of 2011.
Politico reports that Boehner told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid “to go fuck himself” on Friday as the two leaders of the House and Senate were entering the White House to negotiate. Congressman Frank LoBiondo(R-NJ-2) told PolitickerNJ that Boehner shouted at him yesterday when he asked the Speaker about the delay in the Sandy Relief Bill voting. Congressman Peter King (R-NY) went on FoxNews this morning to declare his independence from the Republican Party and urge donors to withhold donations to the GOP. Governor Chris Christie called Boehner’s lack of action on the Sandy Bill “petty politics,” “disgusting,” and “duplicitous.”
John Boehner has demonstrated that he does not have the temperament nor skill to be a leader of the House of Representatives or the highest ranking Republican elected official in the nation.
Trenton, NJ – With all that New York and New Jersey and our millions of residents and small businesses have suffered and endured, this continued inaction and indifference by the House of Representatives is inexcusable. It has now been 66 days since Hurricane Sandy hit and 27 days since President Obama put forth a responsible aid proposal that passed with a bipartisan vote in the Senate while the House has failed to even bring it to the floor. This failure to come to the aid of Americans following a severe and devastating natural disaster is unprecedented. The fact that days continue to go by while people suffer, families are out of their homes, and men and women remain jobless and struggling during these harsh winter months is a dereliction of duty. When American citizens are in need we come to their aid. That tradition was abandoned in the House last night.
The people of our states can no long afford to wait while politicians in Washington play games.
The bill that passed the U.S. Senate on Friday that would provide $60 billion to rebuild New Jersey, New York and Connecticut from the effects of Superstorm Sandy and $400 million in projects unrelated to Sandy has stalled in the House of Representatives, according to reports on Politico and NorthJersey.com.
The House has split the relief measure into two parts; a $27 billion first installment to fund immediate recovery needs over the next three months and a $33 billion amendment to that installment bill. The amendment would fund strip away the $400 million in non-Sandy pork.
House Speaker John Boehner pulled the measures from the voting schedule prior to the “fiscal cliff” vote last night. If the House does not act before noon on Thursday any federal help for Sandy recovery will have to be taken up by the new Congress.
