Monday, January 28, 2013
U.S. Senate approved the measure 62-36.
A $51.7 billion Hurricane Sandy relief package was approved by the U.S. Senate Monday evening, two weeks after narrowly gaining approval in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives. The bill was approved easily by a 62-36 margin and will proceed to President Barack Obama's desk to be adopted into law. The disaster funding joins a separate bill of more than $9 billion approved by Congress to fund the National Flood Insurance Program, a necessary step in paying insurance claims of the east coast's flood victims. In all, $60.4 billion in Sandy-related aid is expected to be signed into law by the President. Rep. Chris Smith, R-4, lauded the Senate's passage of the aid bill in a statement released Monday night. "This …
Friday, January 18, 2013
Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo, governors of New Jersey and New York, respectively, decided not to hire lobbyists to pursue Sandy aid funding.
It was a gamble, Gov. Chris Christie admitted during a press conference Thursday afternoon, but when it came to securing Hurricane Sandy relief funding from Congress, both he and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo decided it was a task they wanted to take on personally. Christie, taking questions following the announcement of a new task force aimed at looking at gun control legislation, said no lobbyists were hired to help nudge Congress in the right direction following Sandy. Instead, Christie said he went to work on House Republicans, spending hours each day on the phone, while Cuomo hit the phones to work on House Democrats. Though HR 152, a Sandy aid package of $50.7 billion, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday night, the …
Friday, January 4, 2013
The U.S. House of Representatives approved an initial round of funding for the National Flood Insurance Program. Another $50 billion could come Jan. 15.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a measure late Friday afternoon allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to borrow $9.7 billion to pay insurance claims made by victims of Hurricane Sandy. The bill, HR 41, temporarily increases the borrowing authority of FEMA to allow the agency to carry out payment claims made by property owners to the National Flood Insurance Program. Congress moved to approve the funding stop-gap Friday after concerns were raised that aid for Sandy victims had been delayed too long. The House, specifically, Majority Speaker John Boehner, R-OH, came under fire for tabling a Sandy aid package until after the New Year. Congress is expected to vote on two additional bills authorizing more than $…
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
New Jersey's governor delivers harsh words for Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives
Gov. Chris Christie is placing blame for the lengthy delay in approval of a Hurricane Sandy Relief bill squarely on the shoulders of combative U.S. House of Representative Republicans, specifically Speaker John Boehner. Christie offered a scathing rebuke of Boehner and waffling Republicans during a press conference in Trenton Wednesday afternoon, saying Congress has failed in its primary purpose, to protect its own citizens. Residents of New York and New Jersey are being used as pawns in a game of politics, he said, and that's why this country's citizens "hate" Washington D.C. "Last night, politics was placed before help for our citizens," Christie said. "For me, it was disappointing and disgusting to watch." Christie said he and New York …
Dame Bridgid
8:36 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013
I think the entire lot of them should be voted out. The Republicans for whining ineffectively without forming an alternative bill. The Democrats for voting in the pork. They both should have been able to compromise by going line by line to offer justification for these questionable expenses. I can see the benefit from satellites for advance weather warnings now that they have gutted NASA.... but … more ›