Frustration builds over stalled disaster aid bill
Posted April 11, 2019 2:53 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WASHINGTON — Six months after hurricanes devastated the Southeast, infighting among Washington’s tribes has shelved a widely backed disaster aid package that’s most desperately being sought by President Donald Trump’s allies in Florida and Georgia.
Trump’s opposition to aid to Puerto Rico — slammed by back-to-back hurricanes in 2017 — has sparked a standoff with Democrats demanding more aid for the island U.S. territory. Trump is feuding with the island’s Democratic officials and railed against aid to Puerto Rico at a closed-door lunch with Senate Republicans last month.
Senate Republicans have stuck with the president so far, refusing to add more funding to help Puerto Rico rebuild its water systems or help its impoverished government with more generous disaster aid terms.
Andrew Taylor, The Associated Press
