WASHINGTON, D.C.- Today, Representative Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement after urging Speaker Boehner on the House floor to call votes on a bill that was passed by the Senate to provide more than $60 billion to aid recovery efforts in NY, NJ, and CT after Hurricane Sandy devastated several homes and businesses.

“It is truly an embarrassment that the House of Representatives have become a body so entangled in political games that it is unable to come to the aid of Americans whose lives were suddenly turned upside down,” stated Representative Yvette D. Clarke.

“This funding would have not only rebuilt the community’s infrastructure, but our morale and way of life. We need to put aside the politics and do what we were elected to do. We cannot start a new year and a new Congress this way by denying help to those who need it.

“Like my colleagues from the Northeast, I feel betrayed. It is imperative that the House leadership reconsiders their decision and brings the Senate bill to a vote in this Congress. It is our obligation to provide relief to the many individuals, families, and small business owners who are still struggling to rebuild what was lost,” concluded Representative Clarke.

In New York, 305,000 housing units and more than 265,000 businesses were affected by the storm last October. 

                                                                                                        
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U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the House Small Business Committee and the Homeland Security Committee, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. She represents several neighborhoods in central Brooklyn, NY.