Dealing with massive flooding at home, Northeast Pennsylvania's Republican congressmen found themselves in the middle of the partisan congressional dispute Friday over a stopgap spending bill that would ensure funding for flood relief.
By Friday night, Congress still had not passed the funding and House Republicans and Senate Democrats were again blaming each other for the failure, which opened up the possibility that the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) disaster relief fund would run dry next week.
But U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-11, Hazleton, publicly released written assurances from House Appropriations Committee chairman Hal Rogers, House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy that local flood victims would eventually get the money they need.
FEMA is the chief provider of federal aid to flood victims seeking to recover from flooding from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.
Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., appeared Friday morning at a news conference to urge Senate Democrats to pass a $3.69 billion bill that the House passed Thursday to keep the government operating and to refresh FEMA's coffers.
They invited only two congressmen to join them at their news conference in the Capital Visitors Center: Barletta and Rep. Tom Marino, R-10, Lycoming Twp., whose districts were hit hard by flooding from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee and who both pushed the leaders hard for more aid.
Boehner said the House had passed a "common-sense" and "responsible" bill to rescue FEMA and urged the Senate to pass it or risking imperiling flood relief for "thousands of families all across our country."
Cantor blamed Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada for refusing to get behind the House bill.
"This is why people don't like Washington," Cantor said. "We've got the money in the bill, it's there in a responsible manner, let's get the money to the people that need it."
Barletta and Marino passionately made the case for quick Senate action, according to a recording of the news conference.
Barletta recounted watching "grown men cry" over the loss of their homes.
"I was in the kitchen of a woman who told me in the last six months she lost her husband, her son and now everything she owned," he said. "When disaster hits any place around the world, the United States is the first to come to help and now disaster has struck these Americans and Sunday night we stop helping people?"
Marino said the delay is "unconscionable, what Reid is attempting to do, playing politics at a time when people in my district, in Barletta's district and other districts up and down the East Coast have nothing."
"I had an 8-year-old little girl say to me, 'I don't have a bed anymore' and 'We don't have a bedroom for my sister and I to sleep in any more because the flood destroyed our house'" Marino said. "The federal government has a responsibility to protect its citizens from terrorists and from natural disasters."
But later in the day, the Democratic-led Senate blocked action on the House bill by a 59 to 36 vote with Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey voting in favor of setting aside the bill.
In a statement, Casey said the House bill is inadequate because it contains only half the funding included in a Senate-passed bill last week and lacks enough money for three other programs essential for flood relief.
"Many other states hit by storms, tornadoes and other disasters are also vying for these funds. Short-changing natural disaster relief could put help for Pennsylvania in jeopardy," he said. "It is frustrating that Washington politicians are again playing politics with keeping the government operating. It is even worse that the fight is over whether to provide relief for families and businesses devastated by natural disasters."
Efforts to obtain a statement from Toomey were unsuccessful.
Vote delayed
Other Democrats were upset the House bill paid for disaster aid partly by cutting two Energy Department loan programs that finance technological development, according to The Associated Press.
Reid offered a compromise to accept the House's lower level of disaster spending without the energy loan program cuts. Republicans delayed a vote on Reid's measure until Monday, and they seem likely to block it then because Democrats would need 60 votes to win passage exceeding the 53 votes they have, according to The AP.
The dispute pitted GOP objections that the disaster spending would worsen the government's budget problems unless savings were included against Democratic complaints that cutting the energy loan programs would stifle the economy and cost jobs, according to the AP.
"We've agreed to their number on FEMA," Reid said. "I mean, do they want the government to shut down? Do they want FEMA to close?"
Reid said he believed the Senate would consider the issue on Monday and that "reasonable heads will prevail."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Democrats want to continue the Washington custom of financing emergency spending by adding to colossal federal deficits.
"The whole, 'That's the way we've always done it' argument is the reason we've got a $14 trillion debt right now," he said.
Barletta, who voted against an almost identical House measure Wednesday, said he changed his mind because of the written assurances of flood aid he obtained from House Republican leaders.
In his letter to Barletta, Rogers said the Appropriations Committee would "ensure necessary funds are available" as damage estimates rise. Boehner made a similar promise in a news release.
"Thanks in part to Rep. Barletta's persistence, flood victims in Northeastern Pennsylvania will receive the federal help they need, both now and down the road," Boehner said.
Barletta, who said he hopes to have Boehner visit his district soon, said he would have supported the House bill with or without the energy program cuts, but had no problem with them.
House Republicans are dealing with the issue the same way an everyday American would. If a washing machine breaks, perhaps a family cannot buy a new flat-screen TV, he said.
"When disaster occurs, we need to take care of it, but there's nothing wrong with saying we're going to do without something else to pay for it," Barletta said.