Rokita Votes in Support of Amendment to Cut Spending to Pay for Sandy Aid

Statement

U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita today released the following statement after voting in support of an amendment offered by Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) to the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act. The Mulvaney amendment would make across-the-board cuts of 1.63 percent to all discretionary spending to offset the cost of new spending related to Hurricane Sandy. Rokita last week also introduced amendments that would require across-the-board cuts to non-defense discretionary spending to fully offset the proposed $50 billion in supplemental spending related to last year's hurricane.

"I strongly believe the federal government should play a key role in providing assistance for Hurricane Sandy's victims, but I will not provide that assistance on the backs of future generations. I voted for my friend and colleague's amendment -- and introduced my own similar amendments -- because it protects future generations by requiring us to pay for that assistance today.

"Washington is fully capable of reducing spending on lesser priorities and I refuse to believe in the false dilemma before us: pass an unpaid-for disaster bill, further victimizing the children of tomorrow, or reject an unpaid-for relief bill, denying Hurricane Sandy victims the assistance they need," said Rokita.

The amendment by Rep. Mulvaney failed by a vote of 258-162.

Earlier this month, Rokita voted against a bill to temporarily increase the borrowing authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for carrying out the National Flood Insurance Program.

In a guest column last week in the Lafayette Journal & Courier, Rokita explained the case for matching new, off-budget disaster relief spending with cuts in other areas.

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