WASHINGTON, D.C. – A bill to temporarily increase the borrowing authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for carrying out the National Flood Insurance Program and send aid to the east coast in the wake of Hurricane Sandy passed the House of Representatives Friday morning with a vote of 354 – 67.
The bill states that “Section 1309(a) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4016(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘$20,725,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$30,425,000,000’’. The amount provided by this section is designated by the Congress as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 403(a) of S. Con. Res. 13 (111th Congress), the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010.
The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate before the vote.
Former Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan voted against the bill, which now heads to the Senate where it could pass Friday afternoon.
Iowa Congressman Steve King said Friday that “The insurance policy holders affected by Sandy have a contractual guarantee backed by Congress that we met today,” said King. “Because Congress has created its own monopoly over flood insurance and mismanaged the risk/premium ratios, we have no ground to stand on to deny legitimate insurance claims to the victims of Sandy. I would have liked to have seen offsets, and I will continue to fight for offsets in any future disaster relief bills.”