A month of outrage later, Senate to vote on Sandy relief

updated 12:55 AM EST, Mon January 28, 2013

Sandy victims suffer through cold snap

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Senate is expected to vote on $50 billion relief package for Superstorm Sandy victims
• House's failure to vote on relief in December outraged politicians from both parties
• New House passed a bill on January 15 over cost objections from some Republicans

(CNN) -- The Senate is scheduled to vote Monday on more than $50 billion in aid to Northeastern states battered by October's Superstorm Sandy, four weeks after a delay that sparked bipartisan fury.

Sandy killed at least 113 people in the United States, flooded much of Lower Manhattan and Long Island and smashed New Jersey's seaside towns when it struck October 29. Officials in New York and New Jersey, the hardest-hit states, say tens of thousands of families are still displaced or lack adequate heat to deal with the Arctic blast that swept through the region last week.

Nicola Chati, a resident of New York's Staten Island, said living in temporary housing has been "really hard on the kids."

"They don't know when they're going home," said Chati, whose family awaits a decision on whether their home will be repaired or condemned. "That's all they want."

Christie: Boehner wouldn't take my calls

The Senate approved a $60 billion aid package for the hard-hit region in late December. But House Speaker John Boehner scrapped a vote on the bill before the clock ran out on the last Congress on January 1, leading to howls of outrage from residents and officials in New York and New Jersey.

"We have never had a natural disaster before where Congress walked away," thundered Rep. Peter King, a Republican from Long Island. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, called it "a total collapse of leadership on the part of Speaker Boehner." And New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the keynote speaker at last year's GOP convention, said the move explained "why the American people hate Congress."

Chastened House leaders quickly scheduled new votes, passing $9 billion to bolster the federal flood insurance program in the first week of January and voting 241-180 to approve another $50 billion on January 15. Most Republicans voted against the second bill, complaining that the spending should have been offset by cuts elsewhere.

The Senate, which already has passed the flood insurance bill, is slated to vote on the rest of the funding late Monday afternoon. They'll also vote on a proposal by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to cut other spending before approving new disaster-relief funds.