WASHINGTON, DC –Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4) took to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday to urge his colleagues to support a supplemental spending bill that would provide much-needed financial relief to areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. The Obama Administration requested $60.4 billion for Sandy aid to Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey to fund Sandy recovery efforts. Congress could vote on this bill as early as this week, but some Congressional Republicans have publicly questioned whether the assistance is necessary.
Click here to watch the floor speech. A transcript of the speech can be found below:
“Mr. Speaker, you can't walk two steps in this Capitol without getting into a discussion these days about the fiscal cliff, and the fiscal cliff comprises a lot of serious issues, but it is a metaphor. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of my constituents and hundreds of thousands of people in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York are suffering as a result of a natural disaster which was anything but a metaphor.
“Hurricane Sandy devastated communities across those three states. Traditionally, when our constituents were homeless, when they were hungry, when they were standing amidst the wreckages of their homes, they looked to this body for help and this body always said yes, we will help. As we speak, there's a bill in the Senate that would provide that assistance to so many distressed constituents, Republican and Democrat, rural and urban. When that bill gets to this House, I urge my colleagues to remember whether it was Hurricane Katrina or Andrew or the earthquakes on the west coast, we have set aside considerations in the budget or off-sets to do the decent and moral thing and help our constituents. Let’s do it again. I yield back the balance of my time.”