WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, criticized Senate Democrats for voting against a $13.45 billion supplemental disaster relief package that would help those impacted by the 2018 disasters including those in Georgia, South Carolina, Puerto Rico.
The measure also extended eligibility to those in Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri hit by severe flooding in 2019. The estimated cost in damages due to the flooding in Iowa is up to $1.6 billion.
“Words can’t really express my disappointment in the Democrats blocking the supplemental disaster package yesterday that was put forward by Chairman Shelby. Folks in Iowa have lost their businesses, they have lost their homes. Our communities have lost their infrastructure. Livestock, gone. Grain, gone. It is devastating and it is heartbreaking,” Ernst said. “The package that was put forward yesterday was the most comprehensive package available—it covered not only the disasters in Iowa with the flooding and across the Midwest, but it included all of the other disasters from 2018. Again, the most comprehensive, far-reaching disaster supplemental package, and it was blocked by my colleagues across the aisle. Shame on them.”
“A number of my Democratic colleagues have been finding their way across the state of Iowa, telling Iowans how important they are to them as the presidential caucuses are nearing, and yet they voted to block the very funding that would help these families out,” she added.
