prev
next
Obama asks for $60.4B Sandy aid
Following a tour of the New York City areas devastated by Hurricane Sandy, President Obama delivers remarks from Staten Island about the devastation and the ongoing recovery effort. / MANDEL NGAN
Updated 6:35 PM ET
WASHINGTON President Barack Obama asked Congress Friday for $60.4 billion in federal aid for New York, New Jersey and other states hit by Superstorm Sandy in late October. It's a disaster whose cost is rivaled only by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the 2005 Hurricane that devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
Fed. program a win-win for jobless Sandy victims
Obama's request adds a huge new to-do item to a congressional agenda already packed with controversy on how to resolve the nation's budget woes and avoid the so-called fiscal cliff.
"Our Nation has an obligation to assist those who suffered losses and who lack adequate resources to rebuild their lives," Jeffrey D. Zients, deputy director of the budget office, wrote congressional leaders in a letter accompanying the formal request. "At the same time, we are committed to ensuring Federal resources are used responsibly and that the recovery effort is a shared undertaking."
The measure blends aid for homeowners, businesses, and state and local government walloped by Sandy and comes with just a few weeks to go before Congress adjourns. Whether it passes this month or gets delayed in whole or part until next year is unclear.
The massive request comes after protracted discussions with lawmakers and officials from impacted areas. Officials from the affected states had requested significantly more money, but they generally praised the request and urged Congress to enact it as quickly as possible.
In a joint statement, both New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said they thank the president for his commitment and support and looked forward to their continued partnership in the recovery effort:
"During the past days and weeks, we have been working very closely with the President, administration officials and our respective congressional delegations to craft a supplemental appropriations request that meets the critical needs facing our states in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Today's agreement on the Administration's request to Congress would authorize more than $60 billion in funding that will enable our states to recover, repair, and rebuild better and stronger than before. This package also includes funding to invest in essential mitigation and prevention efforts that will better protect our region against the devastating impacts of future superstorms."
Cuomo, a Democrat, and Christie, a Republican, came to Washington on Thursday to press for as large a disaster aid package as possible. Friday's request was at the top end of what had been expected.
The aid request could face a turbulent path on Capitol Hill, especially from tea party House Republicans who are likely to press for budget cuts elsewhere to offset whatever disaster aid is approved. The looming fiscal cliff of expiring Bush-era tax cuts and automatic spending cuts to the Pentagon and domestic programs complicates prospects for action in the next few weeks.
As is traditional in natural disasters, the request was not accompanied by offsetting spending cuts to defray its cost.
The aid will help states rebuild public infrastructure like roads and tunnels and help thousands of people displaced from their homes. Sandy was the most costly natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and one of the worst storms ever in the Northeast.
The request also comes with little time left in the final days of a congressional session dominated by an impasse in negotiations between the White House and Republican lawmakers over how to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, a combination of expiring tax cuts and automatic spending cuts that total $500 billion for the first nine month of next year alone.
The measure contains $11.5 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's chief disaster relief fund and $17 billion for community development block grants, much of which would help homeowners repair or replace their homes. Another $11.7 billion would help repair New York City's subways and other mass transit damage, while $9.7 billion would go toward the government's flood insurance program. Another $ 5.3 billion would go to the Army Corps of Engineers to mitigate flood future risks and rebuild damaged projects.
"While more may be needed in the long term, this robust package is a major first step that we will work to pass as quickly as possible in Congress to help devastated communities, families and businesses," said Reps. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., in a joint statement.
The praise was not universal, however.
"We should not shortchange nor add strings to the support residents, businesses and communities in my district and across the region desperately need," said Republican Rep. Frank LoBiondo, whose southern New Jersey district includes hard-hit Atlantic City. "I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure the federal aid package passed by Congress realistically matches the needs identified by the states on the ground."
CBS News reported a House Leadership aide saying: "Our committee will begin reviewing it immediately to ensure that the request is truly focused on the urgent needs of those impacted. We will ensure that the necessary assistance is provided as expeditiously as possible. To the extent that the additional funding is focused on the emergency response to the disaster, under the reformed disaster funding process established last year, it would not need to be offset."
The late October storm flooded parts of the East Coast when it roared ashore, creating a storm surge that left parts of New York City underwater and millions of people in several states without heat or electricity for weeks.
Superstorm Sandy is blamed for at least 125 deaths, including 60 in New York, 34 in New Jersey and 16 in Pennsylvania. At least seven people died in West Virginia, where the storm dropped heavy snow.
The storm also caused an estimated $62 billion in damage and other losses.
Sandy damaged or destroyed more than 72,000 homes and businesses in New Jersey. In New York, 305,000 housing units were damaged or destroyed and more than 265,000 businesses affected.
While lawmakers say more money is needed — New York, New Jersey and Connecticut together are seeking about $83 billion in aid — lawmakers praised the administration for listening to suggestions on ways to make sure projects aren't delayed by bureaucratic rules or a congressional ban on targeted spending.
"There is a great deal of flexibility that better allows us to help homeowners, small businesses, hospitals, beach communities, and localities rebuild, repair and protect themselves," said a joint statement from New York and New Jersey's senators — Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey.
On Tuesday, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Craig Fugate, said the government's disaster relief fund still has $4.8 billion, enough to pay for recovery efforts into early spring. So far, the government has spent about $2 billion in the 11 states struck by the storm.
Popular on CBSNews.com
- Oklahoma tornado victim search efforts winding down
- Children rescued from two elementary schools in Oklahoma 19 Photos
- Tornado's destructive path 17 Photos
- Up-close video of Moore, Okla., tornado Play Video
- Oklahoma tornado as seen by storm chasers Play Video
- Deadliest U.S. tornadoes 10 Photos
- Oklahoma tornado victims mull next moves
- Oklahoma tornado recovery grinds on amid grim scenes 183 Comments
Most Popular
-
01
-
02
-
03
-
04
-
05
Most Shared
Most Discussed
Finally, the bulk of the money seems to be going to develop an infrastructure to prevent flooding from occurring again. I would bet this is to be a levee around the NY/NJ seaport area - likely $50B of the $60B requested. For the federal government to pay for this is absurd - especially in our deficit-riddled financial times. That is akin to having the federal government retrofit the entire San Francisco Bay area for earthquake safety. All of these things would be nice. But the $60B requested is about as much as the whole tax increase on the 2% would bring in during a year. I thought we were trying to control expenses?!
It is quite ironic how much more federal money the red welfare states get while the blue states continue to subsidize them, and the big whiners about government and spending are clearly in the southern welfare states.
Oh, that's right, president's have no authority to spend -- only Congress does!
2B in actual damages
2.4B to cover folks who chose not to carry insurance
1B to agencies verifying damages
55B gift to NY for deferred infrastructure repairs that had nothing to do with the weather.
They should have built their sea wall years ago, but chose to pay their politicians instead. I neither expect, nor want, the Feds or the State to come to my assistance. I will expect my insurance adjuster, though, if/when the time comes.