Washington, DC – Congressman Charles B. Rangel praised the passage of H.R. 152, The Sandy Disaster Relief Act, a disaster relief package that includes $50.4 billion in aid to those who were affected by Superstorm Sandy. The bill, which passed with a vote of 241-180, will be considered by the Senate next week before going to the White House for President Barack Obama's signature.

“The many families and small businesses in the tri-state area that were affected by SuperstormSandy have been waiting for almost three months for us to act,” Rangel said.  “The aid provided in this package comes not a moment too soon and it will enable communities to continue their recovery efforts.”

The House Republican Leadership divided the Sandy Disaster Relief package into three pieces.  H.R. 152 included the second and third pieces of the disaster relief package.  The second piece was a substitute to H.R. 152 offered by Rep. Rogers (R-KY) that provides $17 billion in disaster relief.  The third piece, an amendment offered by Rep. Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), added an additional $33.4 billion in disaster relief to the aid package.  The passage of these two parts was made possible by a rule that the House Rules Committee issued before the vote on Tuesday night.

On January 6, 2013, the first piece of the Sandy disaster relief was enacted into law.  This legislation provided $9.7 billion in relief aid to help the National Flood Insurance Program meet claims related to Hurricane Sandy.  The Senate passed a $60.4 billion Superstorm Sandy Supplemental Appropriations Bill by a vote of 62 to 32 on December 28, 2012.  However, Speaker John Boehner did not allow the House to vote on the legislation before the 112th Congress adjourned.  In the weeks since, Rangel was vocal in urging Speaker John Boehner to bring the Senate relief bill to the House floor.

“The passage of this legislation shows that when enough people speak up, Congress will listen,” Rangel continued.  “I would like to thank all of those who spoke up after the Speaker pulled the disaster relief bill from the floor at the end of the year and I commend my colleagues for finally coming together to do the right thing.”

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What is included in H.R. 152, The Sandy Disaster Relief Act:

$17 Billion Rogers Substitute 

Under the rule, Rep. Harold Rogers, Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, will offer an amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 152, which is very similar to the text of the bill.  This procedure will allow some Republicans to be able to vote for $17 billion in Sandy relief funds, without voting for any additional funding on top of $17 billion.  

Democratic Members are urged to vote YEA on the Rogers substitute, as a piece of the Sandy relief package.  However, without the Frelinghuysen amendment (see below), the Rogers substitute would be highly inadequate to meet the needs of the victims of Hurricane Sandy.  Following are some of the key components of the $17 billion Rogers substitute, with a comparison to funding levels in the bipartisan bill passed by the Senate in December by a bipartisan vote of 62 to 32.  

Key $33.4 Billion Frelinghuysen Amendment

The rule will make in order a key amendment to be offered by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), which would add an additional $33.4 billion to the $17 billion Rogers substitute – bringing the total funding to $50.4 billion.  When the $9.7 billion in funding for the flood insurance program already enacted is included, the total funding for Sandy relief would be $60.1 billion – basically the same level of funding as the Senate bill and the Administration’s request.

The Frelinghuysen amendment adds funding to the Rogers substitute, to address its many deficiencies. Following are some of the key components of the Frelinghuysen amendment: