Republican Sen. Marco Rubio defended his past votes against hurricane relief as he asked for federal money to help victims of Hurricane Jan in his home state of Florida.
CNN’s Dana Bash asked Mr. Rubio about the letter he sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee asking for resources for Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, but noted that he had previously voted against aid for victims of Hurricane Sandy, which hit to the northeast in 2012. USA.
Hurricane Ian made landfall this week and has already devastated parts of Florida and the US East Coast. Mr. Rubio defended his past actions and said he had always voted for hurricane and disaster relief.
“What I didn’t vote for in Sandy was because they included things like a roof for a museum in Washington, for a fishery in Alaska, it was loaded with a bunch of things that had nothing to do with disaster relief,” he said. I would never say that we should use a disaster relief package for Florida as a way to pay for all the other things that people want across the country.”
In response, Ms. Bash pointed out that the Sandy relief legislation includes repairs to the museum’s roof because it was damaged in the storm and provides money for Alaska fisheries to deal with another disaster. In response, she asked what Mr. Rubio would vote against if the relief for Ian included wasteful spending.
“I will fight against having pork in it,” he said. “That’s the key. We shouldn’t have that because it undermines the ability to come back and do it in the future.”
