Sen. Carper Urges House to Pass Additional Sandy Aid

WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed a $9 billion package to cover insurance claims filed by those affected by Hurricane Sandy:

“While I am encouraged that leaders in the House have reversed course from an earlier decision to postpone Sandy relief until later this month, simply put, this small package isn’t enough. Just one week ago, in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, the Senate passed a $60 billion aid package for those whose homes, businesses and property were damaged or destroyed after Hurricane Sandy tore through the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, including Delaware. In addition to providing immediate relief for homeowners, small business owners and families, the Senate bill included strong provisions to help mitigate future damage from ‘superstorms’ like Sandy. In Delaware, we’ve seen the indisputable benefits of storm and flood protection projects, which prevented tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in additional storm damage in towns along our coast. If these provisions are left out of the relief package, it would leave coastal communities across the region even more vulnerable than they were before Sandy and would likely add even deeper costs to cleaning up from future storms. The House needs to end these senseless delays and pass a comprehensive aid package, like the one we passed in the Senate, right away. We have a moral responsibility to ensure that the citizens on the East Coast deeply affected by this storm have the resources they need to continue healing and rebuilding.”