US house passes US$51.8 billion for hurricane relief

WASHINGTON - The US House of Representatives has approved US$51.8 billion ($74.5 billion) in hurricane relief requested by President George W Bush, as Democrats hammered the White House for what they called a failed initial response to the Gulf Coast hurricane disaster.

The House passed the funding by a vote of 410-11. The Senate was expected to pass the bill later in the day and send it to President George W Bush to sign.

The federal government exhausted a US$10.5 billion fund approved by Congress just a week ago, requiring the House to quickly pass a new round of funds for hard-hit Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and other Gulf Coast areas.

"The human needs in the Gulf region are all too apparent," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis, a California Republican.

Leading Democrats supported the emergency aid but accused the House Republican leadership of rushing it through without adequate oversight and of blocking debate on an amendment to revamp the widely criticised Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is in charge of the relief effort.

"We're being governed by decree. The president decides on a figure, he sends it over and we don't even get a chance to look at it much before we're called upon to vote on it," complained House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat.

On the Senate floor, Senator Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat, displayed a widely circulated photograph of a smiling Bush holding a guitar in California one day after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.

"It was one of the worst failures of leadership in our country," Lautenberg said of the administration's planning for the hurricane and its reaction in the next few days.

But House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, came to the defence of the White House. Referring to the massive number of refugees who have been sheltered and the food, water and equipment delivered, DeLay said, "We ought to be proud of that. But what are we doing in Washington? We're pointing our fingers. We're talking about process."

The House also passed a bill increasing FEMA's borrowing authority for a national flood insurance programme to US$3.5 billion, from the previous US$1.5 billion.

While it was not clear how long the US$51.8 billion would last, Lewis warned that with the government spending more than US$1 billion a day over the past week more emergency spending bills were in the offing.

Lawmakers have been overwhelmed by the latest cost estimates, which put the overall rescue and rebuilding efforts in the range of US$150 billion to US$200 billion.

The natural disaster will add to already large budget deficits this year and next. Those deficits also are being fuelled by the war in Iraq that has cost about US$300 billion since 2003.

FEMA will receive nearly all of the funds approved on Thursday, US$50 billion, while the Defence Department will get US$1.4 billion for its rescue efforts. The Army Corps of Engineers will get US$400 million to dredge navigation channels and repair other corps projects in Gulf states. The money also will be used to repair pump stations and levees for continued drainage of a submerged New Orleans.

Hoping to quell concerns in Congress that billions of dollars could be misspent, the bill earmarked US$15 million for federal auditors to watch over the nearly US$52 billion in spending.

- REUTERS