House disaster relief bill delayed
WASHINGTON — Final House passage of a $19.1 billion package for disaster relief was stymied singlehandedly on Friday by Texas Rep. Chip Roy, who complained that the bill contained none of the money sought by the Trump administration for the U.S.-Mexico border.
The long-delayed legislation, which passed the Senate on Thursday 85-8, includes a provision to force the federal budget office to release nearly $4.4 billion already appropriated for storm protection in Texas, funds that were allocated after Hurricane Harvey.
Unanimous consent was needed to finish the legislation because the House adjourned on Thursday for the Memorial Day recess.
But Roy, R-Dripping Springs, a first-term member and close ally of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, stood to
say that he would not go along with the consent.
Roy, a member of House Freedom Caucus, an alliance of ardent conservatives, began by saying that the House should not advance legislation of such magnitude without members being present.
With jabs at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Roy turned to the refusal by the Senate in negotiations to include money requested for the border.
“While Speaker Pelosi has consistently denied the crisis at our border, and thus has denied the humanity of the victims of cartels and other traffickers, she has been insisting that there is no money to satisfy the good faith compromise emergency funding requests from the White House,” he said.
Pelosi issued a statement accusing House Republicans of sabotage and “an act of staggering political cynicism.”
Roy noted that the White House had requested $4.4 billion for operations at the border including “managing the over 100,000 illegal aliens being apprehended” along with unaccompanied minor children.
“The Speaker, however, continues not to care about these children while empowering cartels and lawlessness at the expense of our national sovereignty and the migrants who seek to come here,” Roy said.
The bill aids victims of recent disasters, including California wildfire and flooding in the Midwest. It also provides $900 million to Puerto Rico, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017, and includes provisions requiring the White House to make available billions of dollars previously withheld for Puerto Rico relief.
Before Senate passage, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, inserted a provision to force the White House Office of Management and Budget to release $4.38 billion in money for future storm protection in Texas.
The money is the Texas allocation from the Housing and Urban Development Department under a new program that involves a set of regulations stalled since last year at the budget office.