House leaders for delaying a vote on hurricane assistance. We spoke with a reporter about todays action. Later, houser speaker john baier met with the new jersey delegation about funding saying the should be the First Priority. After a day of heated remarks about not considering a disaster aid spending bill, there will be a vote after all. Carrie young is joining us. What happened . They are moving ahead. The most urgent need is flawed programs which is going to have some trouble. We will see that on friday. And theyre picking up the rest of the package on january 15. Why did they not schedule a vote before the end of the congress . They expected to go back to this in january. There was a lot going on behind the scenes. She started to talk about how it will work Going Forward. Can you elaborate . What is happening next . The most dire need is expressing the Flood Program. Maybe around that was the same that president obama was requesting. They will come back in on the 15th. There is a twopart bill. And 27 billion in the first charge tranche. A larger bill with longterm recovery money. The senate has passed a Disaster Relief bill. Will congress have to start the process all over again in the 113th congress . The house was in for about an hour and there was a formality of the session. And they should be able to move fairly quickly. It would happen more unusual to have the senate vote. Why is getting this bill done as soon as possible important to the lawmakers pushing for a . It is not a Good Practice. We heard from people that they had 4 billion. Will have to tell people applying for new application to that it will have to hold off on projects. Is there to manage this ahead of time there is debate there appears to be broad partisan bipartisan support. We appreciate your time. Thank you. Heres how congressional story rights about the story. They quote representative king who appeared on fox news. Mr. King said, i am saying anyone who contributes one penny to Congressional Republicans is out of their mind. Here is some of what member said on the house floor about it midmorning. The president cleared several maryland counties eligible for federal assistance. It was my citizens are not in dire circumstances. The citizens who will hear from today are in that condition. The counties joined hundreds in a 1,000 mile diameter. The largest to graphically in the history of the atlantics hurricanes. The speaker said that the victims will need to wait until the next congress to receive assistance. Wait. They say to millions who are in pain and in distress. We should not be waiting, mr. Speaker. We should be voting this very morning which i tell you, mr. Speaker, i expected to happen from my discussions with the majority leader. As i said last night, i went with congressman weeks to the rockaways in new york. What i saw there in the aftermath defies description. To those who say that fema has not yet disbursed all the funds it has to assist families and businesses i would tell them they deplete underestimate the damage in these areas and a wide range of assistance required to alleviate the pain and suffering. I saw the mountains of debris that the corps of engineers have begun to remove from neighborhoods. It represents peoples lives. Homes and businesses. With this legislation which would have provided up to 1. 60 billion so that families could begin rebuilding. What we have to borrow that money . Yes. If the furnace when out and the temperature was at zero, you would replace the furnace to keep the family safe. And borrow the money to do so. We would have had to repay and we would. This bill would have allocated 6 billion in emergency aid for food banks to make sure that people in the richest country on the face of the years have some sustenance for them and their children. I saw an area where within 100 homes were devastated by fire when an electric transformer malfunctioned. The many firefighters who lived in the neighborhood could not get additional help from surrounding forest boroughs due to flooding. There is little left, indeed, none of their homes. I saw local businesses that have been there for years completely destroyed, waiting for the 620 million in sba assistance. We talked about not imposing burdens on Small Businesses buy additional taxes. The Small Businesses are out of business without our help. We walk away today from nearly 4 billion in assistance to help reconstruct Rockaway Beach and other places which is critical to the economic recovery and to prevent further storm damage. Finally, the results of the toll on transit and infrastructure including inundated subway and traffic tunnels that were referred to last night. This bill would have provided up to 10. 90 billion for transit and 2. 20 billion for highways to make sure that the area is not just clear of water but repaired. If Small Businesses will operate it will be because consumers and customers can get to them. And get to the schools, to the hospitals, and get to their families. Witting to act until later this month when members are here and waiting to vote last night is not the right choice. No member of this house could travel to the northeast to see the damage and tell anyone in those areas to wait for us to act. Wake forest to help. Way for us to come to your aid. We cannot and we should not wait. We must not walk away. Mr. Speaker, i urge the speaker of this house to reconsider and to act immediately. Now. Now is the time to act. I yield back the balance of my time. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Sometimes events occur that are so out of the ordinary, so unusual as to defy belief. Such as the decision of the speaker last night not to permit this house to vote on relief and aid for these three states and other areas that were devastated by Hurricane Sandy. I have been in this house for 20 years. There have been many disasters, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes, wildfires. In every single instance, this house has voted aid for the appropriate and necessary states. In every single instance. Never more than three. It has been nine weeks when sandy devastated three states in parts or more. Nine weeks. The Senate Passed the bill. The house was ready. The bill was prepared. An amendment was prepared. We were sure the bill would be on the floor. The last minute, the speaker, without even talking to republicans not to mention democrats from new york, refusing to meet with them. Suddenly pulled the bill and said we would not have a vote. As if the people in new york and connecticut, pennsylvania, and new jersey are not in aid. As if thousands of people are still without heat, without water. As of thousands of Small Businesses do not need loans and aid so they do not go under. The thousands of people do not need help to rebuild their homes, to clear the trash from their properties, as of hundreds of municipalities do not need aid to finance this activity, having used up their budget for that purpose. Were told by the chairman of the Appropriations Committee will get a bill on the floor leader. It is already nine weeks. An unprecedented length of time. New yorkers and new jersey residents, are they less americans than the people we need in the south when we vote for those people because theyre the victims of Natural Disasters . How can we treat entire regions of the country this way . It is the most disgraceful action i have seen in this house in the 20 years ive been here. That whilewere told fema still has money until march, it is not just fema, it is the Small Business administration that needs the preparation now to help Small Businesses now. With the army corps of engineers that needs the authorization and appropriation now to help the municipalities and the people who are victimized. There is no excuse for this. None. It is a betrayal of the people not to permit a and vote. I have never seen an action like it. I hope i never see again. I urge the speaker to reconsider and rectify this decision today. Todays the deadline to avert going down in history as shameful. I yield back. It is difficult to stand here knowing that we will end this congress and ori will walk the streets and me with homeowners that i have been meeting with for nine weeks now. And i can tell them that everything is going to be okay because of right now, everything is not ok. In fact it is far from ok. I do not often agree with my colleagues that just spoke on a lot of substantive issues. I have to agree with them today. That is not an easy thing for me to do because there was a vitriol betrayal. There was an error in judgment that is going to cause i think the trust of the American People. Not for me individually, not necessarily for the members individually here today. But for this body as a whole as we move forward. I could not be more prone to be an american. I used to tease people died bleed red, white, and blue. I know i would serve in the military and i did. I would have given my life for this country time and time again. And later on i put myself in harms way serving with one of the greatest organizations this country has to offer with the federal bureau of investigation. A huge honor. I really felt when i took my oath as a member of congress that it would be all level of service a level of service that would outweigh my Prayer Service because i was going to be in a position to help my fellow americans everywhere that i could. And to actually go out and touch my friends, neighbors, even those that did not support me or have different political ideologies. I was going to be able to use the work ethic i inherited from my father to make their life a little better. That is why i took this job. To make peoples lives a little better. To make life in the u. S. A little better. I am not able to do that today. I do not understand why. And i think it is inexcusable. That we did not have this vote and bring those that are suffering, those men and women that are looking at their children right now and they are not sure what to tell them because they have lost their Small Business, their only source of income. Why is that important . Because the sba and fema and government officials that hit the ground when the storm had explained that if you did not get money into the hands of the Small Businesses almost immediately, then most likely they would go under. If you do not start rebuilding broadway, people start to become depressed and they lose hope. Blitzed not even discuss the Economic Impact lets not even discuss the Economic Impact. To display this to delay this vote even for day is something that will resonate not only with the people who have been affected and are suffering and lost everything but it will resonate with the American People for a long time and it will make them wonder what we are here for. And what is the role of the federal government, what is the role of the congress, and most importantly, can they trust us . It is with a heartfelt apology that i apologize to my constituents, to my fellow new yorkers in need, those in new york, and pennsylvania. I did all i could. I will not stop, i will not relent, i will continue to push for this vote to come as quickly as possible. There is no rhyme or reason and is inexcusable and has not come already. Youre in my thoughts and prayers and ive will be there on the ground as soon as i get back to new york and help as much as i can knowing that i am not helping nearly enough because we do not have the funding to do so. I want to thank my colleagues across the aisle that have been exemplary. It has been an honor to work so closely with you on these efforts. It has been not only by partisan but bicameral. Governors, mayors, all across the aisles have weighed in and that is something i will treasure and will continue to do as we move forward knowing your time is expired. We should not have to be here today. I yield back. The gentlemans time is expired. The chair recognizes the gentleman from new york for three minutes. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Last night, Republican Leadership reneged on the commitment to vote on aid for the families in the states that were devastated by superstorm sandy. We were told it is because republicans could not stomach any additional votes in this congress. I wonder if those same people walked along the beaches of long beach and long island, breezy point and Rockaway Beach, s. I. Or Seaside Heights in new jersey, if they could stomach the devastation there would witness. Stomach the lives that were lost, s stomach the homes that have been had destroyed, or the families that have been displaced. Stomach the businesses that are closed and in many places have been lost. In the weeks after the storm, our republican colleagues told us not all and i want to point out that mr. King and mr. Others were helpful. The leadership told us there were with us and they would support us. Those were only words because last night we learned the truth. Thanks to their actions, there is no additional federal assistance to help hardworking people rebuild and restore their lives. I am not a cynic, but i do wonder what if we told republicans that a few millionaires and billionaires letter destroyed. What if they would get a tax break . With these incentives have changed their mind . Would have prompted action it have prompted action . Republicans in congress brought this house to a new low last night. The banner says in god we trust. God alone cannot help these families rebuild but the American People cannot trust the Republican Congress to help either. The only thing my colleagues did was to serve a false hope to the people who have been devastated by the storm. False promises, a falls guarantees there would be there to help them in their time of need. Even though my cousin john moran was killed, there was a monument on beach and 118th street. Dozens of monuments along the rockaway peninsula, there were destroyed by the hurricane. It did not stop my family and his neighbors to grow out and sift through the feet of sand before fallujah to find that memorial. They did not wait for the government to come poll, by their bootstraps. They did it themselves. Their humble and probable. Throughout this entire region. That have been affected. They will recover. No thanks to the 112th congress. Thank you. Thank you for your service and thank you for your remarks here this morning. It is important to separate set the record straight. Many of us came to the floor and rightly said that conduct of the Republican Leadership was a disgraceful and indefensible and immoral. I want to let the facts as to how we reached the situation. This goes beyond any of that. The fact is that as the congresswoman said, 10 days after katrina, 60 billion was appropriate. That went over 900 billion. The fact is that over the last five, six, seven weeks, we did everything that the Republican Leadership asked us to do. Governor cuomo came down and i was at the meeting, he met with the speaker. Gov. Christie came down and mayor bloomberg came down and met with the majority leader. We were asked to submit detailed documentation. Gov. Christie, governor cor uomo, they managed detailed documentation. When the bill came from the senate we were told there was [inaudible] the bill was in compliance with what Republican Leadership to do. In my dealings with them, the majority leader is straightforward and direct. He was fighting to get the bill on the calendar. It was the speaker for whatever reason who walked off the floor and said the bill was being pulled. I do not enjoy say this. I consider myself a personal friend of john boehner. It pains me to say this. The fact is the dismissive attitude that was shown last night toward new york, new jersey, and connecticut typifies the strain in the Republican Party and i know this not the place to discuss politics but that politics is entering into a decision that was made. I cannot imagine that type of indifference and this regard, that cavalier attitude being shown to any of their part of the country. Were talking about real life anddeath situations here. To have the speaker what often not even tell us that the item that means life and death was taken off the calendar and was gone. Real. Be were not in session next week. We have the state of the union. Does anyone believe if they would not vote last night at the Appropriations Committee is going to get religion and vote to pull them out when we know what their attitude is that somehow money going to new york and new jersey and connecticut is corrupt money . I would say that these people have no problem finding fighting your quick comes to raising money. I am standing here saying we have a moral obligation as republicans and democrats. I spoke to governor christie and Governor Cuomo. We have been in Constant Contact with gov. Mayor bloomberg. I have to go home this weekend and next week and a week after and see the hundreds of thousands of people who are out of their homes and theyre leaving living with friends and relatives and in trailers. This is not the United States. This should not be the Republican Party. This should not be the Republican Leadership. Tell these people somehow, they have become sanctimonious when it comes to new york and new jersey, have an obligation to provide the aid and relief we need. If there is one penny they have a problem as with, do not walk out the door and ignores. The chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey for two and a half minutes. I appreciate what he said. This is not a republican or democratic issue. It should not be politicized. Natural disasters and responding to them is what i have seen as what b