Senate Democrats will introduce a new amendment to multi-billion dollar disaster relief legislation Tuesday in an attempt to counter Republican arguments that they are blocking much-needed aid to the Midwest.
The new amendment comes after the Senate failed to move forward Monday on competing plans for providing $13 billion in assistance to communities affected by hurricanes, wildfires and devastating flooding. The Senate stalled Monday over a dispute on how much money to allocate to Puerto Rico, which was hit by two hurricanes in 2017.
“I say to anyone suggesting that Democrats aren’t willing to help the people of Iowa, Nebraska and other states – we are calling your bluff,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on the floor Tuesday. “Are you ready to actually appropriate new money, more money for what the people in the Midwest who are struggling need?”
Negotiations on disaster aid faced their latest setback after President Donald Trump reportedly told Republicans in a closed door lunch last week that Puerto Rico was getting too much money.
The new Democratic amendment would include a proposal that Senate Republicans support from Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) that increases eligibility for disaster relief legislation to Midwestern and Southern states affected by the floods and provides $600 million of nutrition assistance to Puerto Rico. The Shelby amendment expands a bill from Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) that already provided billions in disaster aid. Democrats, however, voted against the measure.
The amendment would also include an amendment requiring the Department of Housing and Urban Development to release grant funds already allocated to the island and would provide $2.5 billion in new relief money to the Midwest, according to a senior Senate Democratic aide.
But Republicans say that their proposal is the only one that Trump will actually sign and are so far only willing to support the proposal from Shelby and Perdue, according to a Senate Republican aide.
Trump took to Twitter to attack Puerto Rico late Monday night and Tuesday morning, incorrectly claiming “Puerto Rico got 91 Billion Dollars for the hurricane, more money than has ever been gotten for a hurricane before” and said Puerto Rico’s leaders are “grossly incompetent, spend the money foolishly or corruptly, & only take from USA.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blasted Democrats Tuesday for voting down the package from Perdue and Shelby.
“I am disappointed that political games carried the day yesterday,” McConnell said in his floor remarks. “But I assure the American people our work on the subject is far from finished.”
It was unclear Tuesday where disaster aid is headed next. Shelby said that talks remain at an impasse.
“It’s stalled right now,” he said. “I think sooner or later some people will come to the table. Sometime that’s later. That’s not happening yet.”
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine
Source: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/02/senate-democrats-disaster-relief-amendment-1249169
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The Article Was Written/Published By: mlevine@politico.com (Marianne LeVine)
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