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Despite Texas lawmaker’s negative response to giving aid to the northeastern states hard-hit by Hurricane Sandy in the fall of 2012, northeastern representatives will vote for aid to Texas after the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey.
During the days after the destruction of Superstorm Sandy, Texas Republicans were almost completely united in their stand to vote against a funding bill for billions of dollars in aid to those hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy, one of the worst storms in US history, in terms of damage caused. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas claimed the funding was “a Christmas tree” which included billions of dollars in “extraneous goodies.”
Republicans from New Jersey and New York still remember the pain the disapproval caused, but have decided to vote for a massive aid package anyway, possible embarrassing Texas lawmakers.
“The congressional members in Texas are hypocrites, and I said back in 2012 they’d be proven to be hypocrites. It was just a matter of time,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on Monday. “We were the disaster that was the longest in waiting in terms of federal aid, and I hope that’s not what happens to the folks in Texas.”
This is a clear example of why disaster relief has traditionally been a bi-partisan issue. No one knows when his district will be the one needing the aid, so how can a lawmaker vote against aid for anyone else, when next time it can easily be you?
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, New Jersey Representative Frank LoBiondo, New York Representative Peter King, and Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, all expressed their intention to vote for aid to Texas even though Ted Cruz and others from Texas were willing to withhold aid from them in 2012.
Its still too early to know what Texas and surrounding areas will need to help recover from the unprecedented flooding caused by Harvey. But it is clear the bill will pass with votes from those who say they do not hold a grudge.
