Obama wants $60 million in Sandy relief; US Rep. Grimm says ‘That’s more like it’
A Republican lawmaker who had been highly critical of Barack Obama amid reports last week that the president planned to request between $45 and $50 billion from congress for post-Sandy recovery work in the tri-state area, expressed relief when the figure turned out to be much higher.
U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm (R-Brooklyn-Staten Island) said he was pleased when the president officially requested $60.4 billion in relief funds on Dec. 7. The request came in the form of a letter from Obama to congress, according to CNN.com.
“Today’s announcement is welcome news,” Grimm said on the day the letter arrived on Capitol Hill. “With the bulk of the funding going to New York, this number will give us the flexibility to meet some of our greatest recovery needs,” he said.