January 14, 2013
New York Times Editorial
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey made an impassioned pitch on Monday to his fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives to vote on Tuesday for almost $50 billion in Hurricane Sandy disaster relief. “New Jersey does not expect anything more than what was done for Louisiana and Alabama and Mississippi in Katrina, and what was done in Joplin, Mo., what was done in the floods in Iowa. We don’t expect anything more than that, but we will not accept anything less,” Mr. Christie said.
It is now more than 11 weeks after the hurricane severely damaged a huge swath of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, yet these states are still waiting for enough federal aid to repair and rebuild housing, businesses and transportation systems that were destroyed by the storm.
After the Senate approved more than $60.4 billion in aid for the battered region in December, Speaker John Boehner and his Republicans in the House balked. They approved only $9.7 billion, mostly for flood insurance. On Tuesday, the House is expected to approve a smaller package of $17 billion that barely covers basic needs like temporary housing. A second vote on the remainder of the aid — a $33.7 billion package drafted by Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen, a New Jersey Republican, that would address major issues like rebuilding transportation systems and repairing flood control facilities — is also expected late Tuesday.
Northeast Republicans were told on Monday that there might be as many as 15 amendments to reach the House floor, which would mean at least 15 chances to cut the financing or make the package unacceptable to the Senate. For Republicans refusing to help Sandy victims, it is worth remembering that disasters are not confined to one region of the country. Those who vote against aid now may well find their constituents desperate for assistance sometime soon.
Source: The New York Times
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