Trump, GOP fire back after Dems block disaster relief bill: 'Washington has reached a new low'

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-gop-fire-back-dems-block-gop-
disaster-relief-bill

Senate Democrats' decision on Monday to block a disaster aid bill was
itself an avoidable legislative disaster, Republicans including President
Trump charged, as the move threw long-sought additional relief for victims
of hurricanes, floods and western wildfires into limbo.

Democrats said they rejected the bill because it didn't do enough to help
hurricane-torn Puerto Rico. The vote escalated a fight between Democrats
and Trump, who has opposed additional rebuilding aid for the U.S. island
territory, which was slammed by back-to-back hurricanes in 2017.

Trump tweeted Monday night: "The Democrats today killed a Bill that would
have provided great relief to Farmers and yet more money to Puerto Rico
despite the fact that Puerto Rico has already been scheduled to receive
more hurricane relief funding than any 'place' in history." He added, "The
people of Puerto Rico are GREAT, but the politicians are incompetent or
corrupt. Puerto Rico got far more money than Texas & Florida combined, yet
their government can’t do anything right, the place is a mess - nothing
works."


Donald J. Trump
?
@realDonaldTrump
The Democrats today killed a Bill that would have provided great relief
to Farmers and yet more money to Puerto Rico despite the fact that Puerto
Rico has already been scheduled to receive more hurricane relief funding
than any “place” in history. The people of Puerto Rico.....

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Donald J. Trump
?
@realDonaldTrump
....are GREAT, but the politicians are incompetent or corrupt. Puerto
Rico got far more money than Texas & Florida combined, yet their
government can’t do anything right, the place is a mess - nothing works.
FEMA & the Military worked emergency miracles, but politicians like.....

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Donald J. Trump
?
@realDonaldTrump
....the crazed and incompetent Mayor of San Juan have done such a poor
job of bringing the Island back to health. 91 Billion Dollars to Puerto
Rico, and now the Dems want to give them more, taking dollars away from
our Farmers and so many others. Disgraceful!

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Trump also wrote that "politicians like the crazed and incompetent Mayor
of San Juan have done such a poor job of bringing the Island back to
health."

“Washington has reached a new low,” Georgia GOP Sen. David Perdue said in
a statement. “It’s been nearly six months since Hurricane Michael ravaged
Georgia and other states across the country, and Congress has failed to
help the very people it claims to represent. President Trump reached
across the aisle, along with other Republicans, to compromise on disaster
relief, but only one Democrat was willing to work with us."

THE AIR FORCE NEEDS $5 BILLION IN DISASTER RELIEF, AND IT NEEDS IT NOW

Perdue continued: "Do not be fooled – Senate Democrats are using farmers
in the Southeast and the people of Puerto Rico as pawns in their political
game. It is hypocritical that Democrats say they want to help Puerto Rico
recover, and yet they obstruct this disaster relief. [Georgia GOP Sen.
Johnny Isakson] and I are not giving up. We will continue fighting until
we get relief for the people of Georgia and other Americans across the
country.”

Added Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley: "I’m disappointed in my colleagues who
decry Washington political games while on the campaign trail in Iowa, but
then return to the Capitol only to play political games themselves. The
disaster aid appropriations bill I voted for in the Senate would not have
left anyone in the lurch, from Iowa to Puerto Rico. But the Democrat
poison pills will do exactly that. I hope my colleagues who voted against
this much-needed relief will reconsider.”

The 44-49 vote fell short of a majority, much less than the 60-vote
supermajority required to overcome a Democratic filibuster. It sent GOP
leaders back to the drawing board but seemed unlikely to end disaster aid
efforts outright, since there has been much political support to send aid
to Southern farmers, wildfire-ravaged California towns and Midwestern
flood victims.

Trump allies such as Perdue, R-Ga., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., have been
among the strongest backers of the legislation, which already has faced
significant delays.

"We will get this done eventually," Perdue said, promising relief to
struggling farmers in his state. The path forward was not clear, but a
leading option has been for the Senate to pass a much more narrowly drawn
bill simply to get the issue into a House-Senate conference committee.
House Democrats have insisted talks must produce a final measure with help
for Puerto Rico.


Donald J. Trump
?
@realDonaldTrump
Democrats should stop fighting Sen. David Perdue’s disaster relief bill.
They are blocking funding and relief for our great farmers and rural
America!

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Democrats said Trump has been slow to release already-appropriated funding
for Puerto Rico and has exhibited little urgency in helping the island.
Trump criticized the island's government at a meeting with Senate
Republicans last week and suggested Puerto Rico has received too much
disaster help compared with states such as Texas, using inflated numbers
to make his case.

"Just as we leave no soldier behind on the battlefield, we help our fellow
Americans when there's a disaster, wherever the disaster strikes. We do
not abandon them. Period," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-
N.Y.

Flames from the Camp Fire tearing through a home in Magalia, Calif., in
November 2018. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
Flames from the Camp Fire tearing through a home in Magalia, Calif., in
November 2018. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
The $13.5 billion Senate measure mostly mirrors a $14.2 billion measure
passed by the House in January, combining aid to Southern farmers,
California communities devastated by last summer's wildfire and hurricane-
hit states such as Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. Hurricane-damaged
military bases in Florida and North Carolina would receive rebuilding
funds.

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES ARE MAINLY BAD BECAUSE OF THEIR SIZE, NUMBER OF
DEATHS THEY CAUSE

Democrats have aimed to add almost $700 million more to unlock further
disaster aid for Puerto Rico and several states, including help to rebuild
badly damaged water systems. Democrats also have tried forcing the
administration to release billions of dollars in rebuilding funds that
already have been approved.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the measure would be the
fastest way to get aid to the hurricane-slammed South and the badly
flooded Midwest, along with nutrition aid to Puerto Rico, where food stamp
benefits already have been cut.

"It's our only sure path to making a law with anywhere near the urgency
these Americans deserve. It is the only bill on the table with any
provision for the Midwest flooding," McConnell said. "And, it's the only
bill on the table that could earn a presidential signature in time to
deliver urgent relief on the nutrition assistance in Puerto Rico."

Trump has yet to veto a spending bill despite some tough talk, and he has
signed off on $600 million to ease the food stamp cuts in Puerto Rico.

"I have taken better care of Puerto Rico than any man ever. We have $91
billion going to Puerto Rico. We have $29 billion to Texas and $12 billion
to Florida for the hurricane," Trump said last week. "They have to spend
the money wisely. They don't know how to spend the money and they're not
spending it wisely."

Trump's $91 billion estimate, said a White House spokesman, included about
$50 billion in expected future disaster disbursements, along with $41
million that's already been approved. Actual aid to Puerto Rico has flowed
slowly from federal coffers.



--
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Donald J. Trump, 304 electoral votes to 227, defeated compulsive liar in
denial Hillary Rodham Clinton on December 19th, 2016. The clown car
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Congratulations President Trump. Thank you for cleaning up the disaster
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The Obama-led Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)
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Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
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Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion in the eight
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