Obama says he'll sign $50.5B Sandy aid bill soon

January 29, 2013 @ 12:08 am


FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2013 photo, a beach front home that was severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy rests in the sand in Bay Head, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) | Zoom
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama said he'll sign a $50.5 billion emergency relief measure for Superstorm Sandy victims as soon as it lands on his desk.

Three months after Sandy ravaged coastal areas in much of the Northeast, Obama chided lawmakers for taking their time to approve the funding even as he commended them for providing the long-awaited aid.

"So while I had hoped Congress would provide this aid sooner, I applaud the lawmakers from both parties who helped shepherd this important package though," Obama said in a statement late Monday.

Despite opposition from conservatives concerned about adding billions of dollars to the nation's debt, the Senate cleared the bill, 62-36, after House Republicans had stripped it earlier this month of spending unrelated to disasters.

"This is a huge relief," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

Northeast lawmakers said the money is urgently needed to start rebuilding homes, businesses, public transportation facilities and other infrastructure damaged by the Oct. 29 storm, one of the worst to strike the Northeast. Sandy is blamed for more than 130 deaths in the U.S. and tens of billions of dollars in property damages, particularly in New York and New Jersey.

The measure is aimed primarily at helping residents and businesses as well as state and local governments rebuild from the storm. The biggest chunk of money is $16 billion for Housing and Urban Development Department community block grants. Of that, about $12.1 billion will be shared among Sandy victims as well as those from other federally declared disasters in 2011-13. The remaining $3.9 billion is solely for Sandy-related projects.

More than $11 billion will go to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief aid fund for Sandy and other disasters. Another $10 billion is devoted to repairing New York and New Jersey transit systems.

Earlier in January, Congress approved and Obama signed a $9.7 billion bill to replenish the National Flood Insurance Program, which has received well over 100,000 claims related to Sandy. Added to the new, $50.5 billion package, the total is roughly in line with the $60.4 billion Obama requested in December.

The aid package was greased for passage before the last Congress adjourned and the new one came in on Jan. 3. But Speaker John Boehner refused to bring it to the floor after two-thirds of House Republicans voted against a "fiscal cliff" deficit-reduction deal raising taxes on couples making more than $450,000 a year while deferring some $24 billion in spending cuts in defense and domestic programs.

The ruckus after the Senate had passed an earlier $60.4 billion Sandy relief package by a nearly 2-to-1 margin on Dec. 28 exposed deep political divisions within Republican ranks. "There's only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims: the House majority and their speaker, John Boehner," Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie fumed at the time.

Top House Republicans responded by bringing new Sandy aid legislation to the floor under ground rules designed to win over as many Republicans as possible while retaining support from Democrats eager to approve as much in disaster aid as possible.

GOP leaders cut spending in the Senate bill unrelated to disasters. One was to transfer $1 billion from training programs for Iraqi policemen to bolstering security at U.S. diplomatic missions. The shift in money followed a Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Also deleted was $188 million for an Amtrak expansion project that included new, long-planned tunnels from New Jersey to Penn Station in Manhattan.

As with past natural disasters, the Sandy aid bill is not offset with spending cuts, meaning the aid adds to the deficit. The lone exception is an offset provision requiring that $3.4 billion for Army Corps of Engineers projects to protect against future storms be covered by an equal amount of unspecified spending cuts in other programs before next October.

The Senate on Monday rejected, 35-62, an attempt by conservatives to amend the final package with an offset provision to cut federal programs across the board by one-half of 1 percent through 2021.

___

Associated Press writer Josh Lederman contributed to this report.


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (19)


  • Add A Comment

  • Hayduke wrote...
    Even MORE tax cuts for the obscenely rich "job creators" who don't need them. OR....
    December 19, 2012 2:57 pm
    Aid to people who lost everything from Hurricane Sandy. Sorry NY, NJ, no soup for you!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • murr wrote...
    Sheesh tough job
    December 28, 2012 5:33 pm
    Giving other peoples money away. Im glad their is a surplus. How many goverment workes, had last minute time off last week, good reason to never hire them. Pay for no work. Would never even think of hiring one. I dont have enough candy to feed them.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • wsualumn wrote...
    Well, Well, Well
    January 2, 2013 8:15 am
    The GOP typically says that you need to pull up your bootstraps and take care of yourself. "Don't need no guvumunt to take care of rugged indudvuduls such as myself or other Texans." Sound familiar? Rick Perry said something very similar to that exact same thing. About 2 months later he was asking for government aid due to flooding. Last year they were wanting drought aid. These bozos are totally self centered and think that help isn't necessary for others. The Tea Party is instrumental in this practice. How many GOP politicians(and Dems as well) from the south wanted aid during Katrina? Now how many of those same politicians would deny aid to New York and sandy? I'll bet there weren't any Dems against it. It would be The Tea Party and The GOP Goobers from the south.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    WSU
    January 12, 2013 8:47 am
    Did you even read the article? BTW- I'm convinced the reason you are so brainwashed is because you are a GOVERNMENT WORKER! Answer me this: if this money is meant for Hurricane Sandy Relief, then why on earth is there pork added for all kinds of other BS in the bill? This is the perfect example of the idiots on the LEFT pissing away money that his country does not have...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Forrest wrote...
    maplefish
    January 12, 2013 7:05 pm
    Did you look at the date he posted? He was posting to a different story you slow witted dolt.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    Ohhhh a different story???
    January 14, 2013 9:59 pm
    And I'm the dolt? Piss off welfare rat.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Hayduke wrote...
    No, wsualum, you don't understand. Huricane Sandy victims don't need the help as much as the wealthiest 1% need their tax cuts.
    January 2, 2013 11:00 am
    (Nevermind that top tier rates are the lowest they've been since WW2.)

    Besides, those northeasterners are probably all just a bunch of libruls, anyway. They're not red blooded, rugged individualist real 'Muricans like the good Christian folk from the south. (Who, unlike the blue states, just happen to use more government assistance than they contribute.)

    Even Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), an arch conservative and a tea-bagger, had this to say about his fellow party members who refused to vote on the Sandy relief bill:

    "I'm saying right now, anyone from New York or New Jersey who contributes one penny to congressional Republicans is out of their minds," he said in an interview on Fox News. "Because what they did last night was put a knife in the back of New Yorkers and New Jerseyans. It was an absolute disgrace."

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    Hayduke
    January 14, 2013 10:12 pm
    You really are stupid aren't you? You simply do not understand do you? Life is hard. It's even harder when you are stupid and you can't fix stupid. Good luck to you....
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hpitantso wrote...
    GOP House petty payback
    January 3, 2013 5:49 am
    I think they found water on mars, not enough to flood and blow the whole northeast to hell.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SickofSeattleite wrote...
    unfortunatly
    January 4, 2013 5:49 am
    America is broke.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SickofSeattleite wrote...
    i've obviously lived here too long
    January 4, 2013 5:53 am
    no one seems to mention anything about all the damage the dumbocrats have done. You all voted in the massive train wreck spender all might powerful dear special black leader Obama. What do republicans have to do with that? Not to mention you all think Dumbocrats are helping you. They are only helping destroy America financially. FOOLS!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    Sick of your comments
    January 12, 2013 7:14 pm
    Get some meds or move. You are going to have a Democrat run your life for the next 12 years, you sound depressed, unhappy with life in general. Take your downer comments somewhere else.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • murr wrote...
    Cut Cut Cut
    January 14, 2013 3:27 am
    Goverment jobs
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Cbrew wrote...
    And Republicans continue to prove why they are no longer needed in American society
    January 14, 2013 2:43 pm
    They are turning every single vote into a debate about a debt they are largely responsible for creating. The aid bill for Sandy Victims is not the place to stand your ground on Fiscal responsibility, if there is pork in the dang bill by all means point it out and ask that it be removed but denying the victims of this storm the needed aid to restore their states is absolute ignorance and yet another instance of republicans putting party over country. Go look a person in the eyes who's home was destroyed in this storm and tell them that they don't deserve aid. Go tell those people to their faces that even though they've spent their entire lives paying taxes that they don't deserve to have their states infrastructure restored. Do it if you really think it's not worth rebuilding our country because it's high time republicants realize that you can't tip toe the line saying that this Government's most solemn duty is to protect it's people then turn their backs on them when those very people have been decimated by a storm and need help. Republicons are pathetic. They are so irrelevent in today's society it's time they are completely removed from the political process in this country... It's time for the Republican party to be dismantled.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rick W7PSK wrote...
    So Cbrew here is some homework
    January 14, 2013 6:32 pm
    Find out how many Pork Projects were attached that had nothing to do with Sandy, but the States trying to get their pet projects done on the Govt Dole.

    Ill give you one hint to start, State of New York bridge project, On a bridge almost 300 miles away from where sandy went.

    Or do you think just taking on any ole project to something Badly needed, because you know people Have to vote for it is ok?

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }