Demings slams disaster relief obstruction

From the office of Rep. Val Demings

Last week, a single Member of Congress blocked a bipartisan $19.1 billion disaster relief package which had passed the Senate 85 to 8 and had the support of the president. The Republican who stopped the disaster relief funding in the House cited the president’s anti-immigrant agenda as justification.

Said Rep. Demings, “In Florida, we put partisanship aside and work together to recover after disasters. Floridians in the Panhandle have been waiting seven months for this relief. It is truly disappointing that the money needed to rebuild communities in Florida, Puerto Rico, and across the country will be blocked by a Republican whose state has already benefited from billions of dollars of earlier disaster relief.

“The president held up this deal for months, trying to remove support for Puerto Rico and add more money for his wasteful border wall. It is shameful that families struggling to rebuild from Hurricane Michael and other natural disasters have been thrown under the bus by hardliners in the Republican party who refuse to help Americans if they can’t also harm immigrants at the same time.”