Disaster Aid Approved by Congress is Only a Down Payment on What is Needed

Statement

Congressman Paul Tonko released the following statement after voting in favor of a temporary spending bill that will fund the federal government through November 18th. The legislation, which includes $2.65 billion in emergency disaster funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 352-66.

"I voted for this bill because we need to get aid to our communities for the devastation caused by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, so we can continue to recover and rebuild. However, this is just the beginning of the fight to get funding for disaster victims -- I consider it a down payment because it does not do nearly enough for people who lost their homes, and it does nothing for farmers.

"It is a tragedy that it took Congress more than four weeks to deliver disaster aid because of some who wanted to play political games with people's lives. It is unacceptable. I will continue to fight for every single dollar that is needed for people who have suffered from these devastating storms."

Source