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Disaster Relief Should Get A Vote Next Week

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, May 29) -- The heavily politicized disaster relief bill will be up for a vote next week, according to House Speaker Newt Gingrich, but the measure will include a controversial provision that President Bill Clinton has indicated will prompt a veto.

The president has lambasted the congressional leadership for recessing Congress last week without voting on the $8.5 billion aid package, saying they "left town and our people were left in the lurch."

The provision that Clinton objects to would continue funding for U.S. agencies at current spending levels in the event of future budget stalemates. Gingrich told reporters that the measure will get a vote next week, and that there is no risk of money running short for the flooded upper Midwest.

"It better serves the interest of the American people to keep the government open," Gingrich said, in defense of the budget provision. "It better serves the interest of the American people to make sure we're spending the money in a frugal manner. I think that's true of all Americans."

Clinton and other Democrats say the language would run the risk of freezing spending at excessively low levels.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert L. Livingston (R-La.) told reporters at the National Press Club on Wednesday that GOP lawmakers can likely weather criticism for delaying the relief bill.

But he predicted "all hell will break loose" if lawmakers don't quickly agree to the spending bill and the money dries up next month.