When the Senate passed the long-delayed $50.5 billion Hurricane Sandy relief package Monday, 36 Republicans voted against the bill. But of the 32 no-votes from Senators who are not brand-new members, at least 31 came from Republicans who had previously supported emergency aid efforts following disasters in their own states.
While opponents complained that the bill contained too much unrelated “pork,” each of the 30 of them who had been present earlier this month when the Senate passed the much-smaller $9 billion Sandy relief bill also voted no. All five top members of the Senate Republican leadership voted no on both.
Most incredible among the no voters were Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Pat Toomey (R-PA). Those two had not just backed disaster aid in the past — they actually sought disaster aid for their own states for relief from Hurricane Sandy. And Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) endorsed disaster relief for snow storms damages in Arkansas just four days before casting his “nay” vote.
The “hypocritical” list includes:
John Barrasso (R-WY), Republican Policy Committee Chair: Requested disaster aid after flooding.
Mike Enzi (R-WY): Requested disaster relief after flooding.
Not one of the opponents has co-sponsored Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-NV) “Extreme Weather Prevention and Resilience Act” which would encourage Congress to “prepare and protect communities from extreme weather, sea-level rise, drought, flooding, wildfire, and other changing conditions exacerbated by carbon pollution” and “reducing pollution, promoting the use of clean energy sources, and improving energy efficiency.”
We'll see how this Senatorial duo reacts the next time flash floods swamp Kaycee or Lander, wildland fires burn their way through thousands of acres of pine-beetle-ravaged Wyoming forest, a tornado lifts roofs off houses in Wright, drought wipes out Big Horn Basin crops, a plague of locusts descend on Wheatland or a 100-year blizzard inundates Cheyenne.
Here's the complete Senate roll call vote:
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