As lawmakers in Washington were able to reach a deal to avoid a fiscal cliff, many of them were still being chastised for their failure to approve a bill that would provided billions of dollars in federal aid to victims of Superstom Sandy.
The outcry was lead by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and top Republican and Democratic congressional leaders from states impacted by Sandy. At issue is more than $60 Billion in federal aid that had already been approved by the U.S. Senate. But the House – lead by Speaker John Boehner of Ohio – failed to act on its version of the bill before the end of the session, leaving many governments, residents and businesses in the affected areas wondering when they would get assistance from the government for a storm that struck more than two months ago.
Governor Cuomo called the inaction by the house a failure, a disgrace and a dereliction of duty.
During his weekly media conference call on Wednesday, Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning) – who will begin serving as Chautauqua County’s representative in Washington as of noon Thursday – explained why there was a delay in acting on the Senate version of the bill.
“I know there was a great amount of concern raised by many members about the “pork” that was included in the bill from the Senate,” Reed said. “They were very concerned about things like the fisheries off of Alaska being included, projects for the Smithsonian in the Washington area. And so there was some concern that what they were looking at is kind of the status quo because to get to the Senate they had to add up some additional provisions that went beyond money and aid to those impacted by Hurricane Sandy.”
As a result of the public outcry, Boehner said the house will take quick action when it reconvenes for its new session starting on Friday, so at least a portion of the funding can be sent to where it is needed. The decision comes after Boehner met Wednesday with members of the New York and New Jersey congressional delegations – including Congressman Reed. He’s promised to bring the bill to the floor in three parts, starting Friday.
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