After receiving a pummeling from members on both sides of the aisle yesterday over a decision to not vote on a $60 billion aid bill for victims of Hurricane Sandy, House Republican leadership reversed course.
House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor said in a joint statement released yesterday evening that the House of Representatives would vote tomorrow, Jan. 4, on a bill to provide $9 billion in federal funds for flood insurance, with a second vote planned for Jan. 15, the first full legislative day of the 113th Congress, on the remainder of the $60.4 billion aid package that was passed late last month by the Senate.
The shift came after Boehner and his staff met heavy criticism from Govs. Dannel P. Malloy, Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, as well as from numerous U.S. representatives and senators of both parties, after the House Republican leadership chose not to hold a vote on the hurricane relief bill prior to the end of the session.
The lack of a vote before the end of the 112th Congress means that any legislation passed by the House of Representatives to deliver federal aid to the regions impacted by Hurricane Sandy would need to be passed again by the incoming Senate.
Andrew Doba, director of communications for Malloy, said in an email that the delay is “frustrating, especially because the bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support.”
“This federal assistance would have been a big help to communities across the state. But for reasons only the House GOP leadership can explain, that aid has been postponed to the next Congress,” Doba said.
Christie, a staunch conservative, said the blame for the delay lies squarely with Boehner and the House majority.
“For the victims of Sandy in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, it has been 66 days, and the wait continues,” Christie said at a Jan. 2 press conference in Trenton, N.J. “There is only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims: the House majority and their speaker, John Boehner.”
Shortly thereafter, Boehner and Cantor released their statement, pledging to hold a vote on the aid package.
“Getting critical aid to the victims of Hurricane Sandy should be the first priority in the new Congress, and that was reaffirmed today with members of the New York and New Jersey delegations,” they said. “The House will vote Friday to direct needed resources to the National Flood Insurance Program. And on January 15th, the first full legislative day of the 113th Congress, the House will consider the remaining supplemental request for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.”
