Democrats are holding up a major disaster relief bill to seek revenge for GOP opposition to a $51 billion aid package for New York in 2013 after it was hit by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, The Hill reports.
Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., referenced a conversation with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., as proof.
"The senator from Vermont called me last Friday and said, 'I want to show you something,' so he sent over this two-page spread on that vote. Of the 37 'no' votes, I was one of them," Isakson said when he was asked whether Democrats were stalling disaster relief to exact revenge.
"We had a few words," Isakson added.
Isakson voted against the 2013 measure.
"It's Sandy payback," another GOP Senator told The Hill.
Senate Democrats on Monday stonewalled a bill from getting to a final floor vote over what they said was a lack of funds for Puerto Rico.
The proposal, which failed in a 44-49 vote, would have provided $600 million in nutrition assistance to Puerto Rico, but no additional funds to bolster flood protection and repair the electrical grid.
The Caribbean island is still reeling from back-to-back hurricanes in 2017 that uprooted trees, destroyed homes and knocked out power to the entire island.
The House passed a $14.2 billion disaster recovery bill earlier this year that included funds that could be used by Puerto Rico to rebuild its water systems.
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