BP MARKOWITZ STATEMENT ON HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES INACTION ON HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF BILL

“Thousands of families—not just in our beloved Brooklyn but across New York City, Long Island, New Jersey and beyond—are struggling: homes have been destroyed, businesses shuttered and lives permanently changed. After Hurricane Katrina, it took barely a week for Congress to pass a relief bill offering immediate assistance. But now, months after Hurricane Sandy, Congressional Republicans ‘led’ by Speaker Boehner have chosen to play politics instead of helping storm victims. The Speaker should know that America begins with New York. We are a national city, essential not only to the identity of this nation but also to its survival, paying a lot more in tax dollars than we get back. However, in our time of need, when all we have asked for is our fair share, the Speaker and House Republicans have disrespected New York by ignoring our pleas for help. Residents and business owners have asked for nothing more than a helping hand, but in a gesture that was as callous as it was inexplicable, Republicans in the House refused to throw them a life jacket to help keep their heads above water—choosing instead to leave them drowning in the wake of the storm.”