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As the East Coast begins to assess the damage done by Tropical Storm Irene over last weekend, U.S. Rep. Tom Reed said he supports an idea that disaster relief must be offset by spending cuts.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor first suggested tying disaster relief to cuts in spending when tornadoes devastated the town of Joplin, Mo., in May.
“If there is support for a supplemental, it would be accompanied by support for having pay-fors to that supplemental,” Cantor said.
He echoed that sentiment after an earthquake rattled the East Coast last week.
Prior to Irene making landfall, an aide to Cantor told Talking Points Memo website that the Republican’s position had not changed.
“Eric has consistently said that additional funds for federal disaster relief ought to be offset with spending cuts,” the aide said last Thursday.
Reed said tying disaster relief to spending cuts was a harsh reality under which the country is living.
“It’s a sad commentary on where we find ourselves as a nation with our fiscal policies that have gotten us there,” Reed said. “I support spending on disaster recovery, but we’re living in a day and age where we have to hold D.C. accountable. We’re going to have to find money to cover it.”
Reed said he’s confident the government will ultimately find the funds necessary to cover the damage done by Irene.
“For us to have the kind of conversation when we’re facing natural disasters and we have to be concerned where the money is going to come from, that should be setting off alarms all across America,” Reed said. “We have a serious fiscal problem on our hands and it needs to be dealt with, once and for all. I understand where (Cantor’s) coming from, but at the end of the day I am 100 percent confident we will have the resources available to take care of all the disaster costs that need to be taken care of.”
As the East Coast begins to assess the damage done by Tropical Storm Irene over last weekend, U.S. Rep. Tom Reed said he supports an idea that disaster relief must be offset by spending cuts.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor first suggested tying disaster relief to cuts in spending when tornadoes devastated the town of Joplin, Mo., in May.
“If there is support for a supplemental, it would be accompanied by support for having pay-fors to that supplemental,” Cantor said.
He echoed that sentiment after an earthquake rattled the East Coast last week.
Prior to Irene making landfall, an aide to Cantor told Talking Points Memo website that the Republican’s position had not changed.
“Eric has consistently said that additional funds for federal disaster relief ought to be offset with spending cuts,” the aide said last Thursday.
Reed said tying disaster relief to spending cuts was a harsh reality under which the country is living.
“It’s a sad commentary on where we find ourselves as a nation with our fiscal policies that have gotten us there,” Reed said. “I support spending on disaster recovery, but we’re living in a day and age where we have to hold D.C. accountable. We’re going to have to find money to cover it.”
Reed said he’s confident the government will ultimately find the funds necessary to cover the damage done by Irene.
“For us to have the kind of conversation when we’re facing natural disasters and we have to be concerned where the money is going to come from, that should be setting off alarms all across America,” Reed said. “We have a serious fiscal problem on our hands and it needs to be dealt with, once and for all. I understand where (Cantor’s) coming from, but at the end of the day I am 100 percent confident we will have the resources available to take care of all the disaster costs that need to be taken care of.”
