Senator Marco Rubio announced on Sunday that he would vote against a federal aid plan to help Florida rebuild from Hurricane Ian if it included unrelated expenditure projects.
“Sure. I will fight against its including pork. Rubio stated as much on CNN’s “State of the Union.”” We shouldn’t include that since it compromises our ability to return to this endeavor in the future.
Rubio stated that the additional cost would dissuade other legislators from voting for it.
Rubio stated, “We can do it, it’s possible to do it, without filling it up with these other things, because otherwise you’ll have people in the Senate and House voting against disaster relief because they regard these legislation as a mechanism for others to get their pork and pet projects passed.”
Biden stated Thursday that he is approving Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster assistance efforts.
Hurricane Ian made landfall in Cuba before traveling to Florida and South Carolina, when it degenerated to a post-tropical storm and went inland.
CoreLogic, a research firm that analyzes storm damage, forecasts that Hurricane Ian would cause between $28 billion and $47 billion in damage to Florida, making it the biggest storm since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
Approximately one million customers in Florida, 72,000 in South Carolina, and 25,000 in North Carolina remained without power as of Saturday evening.
More than 1,100 people had been rescued as of Saturday morning, and recovery efforts continue. Sheriff Carmine Marceno of Lee County, Florida, stated on Saturday that approximately 35 deaths were recorded in the county. Officials have attributed other deaths to Ian, but no official statewide count has been issued as investigations continue.
Rubio stated, “I believe disaster relief is not something we should take lightly.” “We are able to vote for disaster assistance in our nation and in Congress after major occurrences like this without using it as a vehicle or a device to load people up with items unrelated to the storm.”