Sandy Victims to Get Vote on Friday:
A chastened US House Republican leadership scrambled to tamp down
seething bipartisan fury over a failure to approve emergency relief for
victims of superstorm Sandy, saying a vote will now occur Friday.
The
Senate has already passed a $60.4 billion aid package put forward by
the White House to help northeast US states still reeling in the wake of
the killer late October storm, which destroyed tens of thousands of
homes and businesses and pummeled critical infrastructure.
But, in
the lower House of Representatives, Speaker John Boehner, still
smarting from battle with Democratic President Barack Obama over "fiscal
cliff" budget negotiations, signaled there would be no vote in the
closing days of the outgoing Congress.
Boehner's move sparked rage
and indignation from figures in both parties, prompting the Republican
speaker to announce a two-stage vote on Sandy relief — on Friday and
again on January 15.
"Getting critical aid to the victims of
Hurricane Sandy should be the first priority in the new Congress,"
Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor said in a joint statement.
Earlier,
Obama and New Jersey's outspoken Republican Governor Chris Christie led
the charge against Boehner's refusal to act more quickly.
– AFP
