The House passed a bill Friday morning that tied disaster aid to cuts to clean energy programs, but it was blocked by the Senate. Watch video
Gov. Chris Christie and a bipartisan group of three other governors requested today that the federal government fund appropriate disaster relief to those affected by Hurricane Irene.TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie and a bipartisan group of three other governors from states hit hard by Hurricane Irene today urged Congress to put politics aside and fund disaster relief.
“Our states’ governments and our citizens are doing their part to restore and rebuild. The federal government must also do its part,” said a joint statement by Christie, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue.
They continued: “Federal assistance for the victims of storms and floods should be beyond politics. Within 10 days of Hurricane Katrina, Congress passed and the President signed over $60 billion in aid for the Gulf Coast. It’s been 28 days since Irene and Lee started battering our states. We urge this Congress to move swiftly to ensure that disaster aid through FEMA and other federal programs is sufficient to start rebuilding now.”
Christie and Corbett are Republicans. Cuomo and Perdue are Democrats.
The Republican-led House of Representatives this morning passed a spending bill that included $3.7 disaster assistance package that would have tied disaster aid to cuts to clean energy programs. The Democrat-led Senate blocked it because they opposed the cuts and wanted more disaster aid.
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