January 29, 2013 — The day after Congress approved $50.5 billion in relief for victims of Superstorm Sandy, New Jersey senators began lobbying Tuesday to help a group they say was left out — fishermen.
On its way to final passage, the Sandy aid bill was stripped of $150 million intended to compensate recreational and commercial fisheries for recent disasters in New Jersey, New York and elsewhere.
The money was part of a Sandy aid bill the Senate passed last year, but the House didn’t act on the bill before the 112th Congress ended on Jan. 3. After the 113th Congress took office, House lawmakers balked at providing aid to victims of disasters other than Sandy.
The Sandy aid bill that finally passed Congress with a Senate vote on Monday contains just $5 million to address the fisheries disaster caused by the Oct. 29 hurricane.
Democratic Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez of New Jersey called that amount “woefully inadequate” in a letter they sent the Obama administration on Tuesday.
They asked officials at the Housing and Urban Development Department to make up the difference, saying Sandy inflicted “punishing damage upon New Jersey’s hardworking fishing community.”