Landrieu, Kerry blame GOP minority for blocking recovery bill

2007-07-20

Source: New Orleans City Business

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-New Orleans, and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., are accusing a minority of Republicans for blocking a bill that would improve assistance to business owners and homeowners after a disaster.

Landrieu and Kerry said the Small Business Disaster Response and Loan Improvements Act has bipartisan support from the Bush administration and every member of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Co-sponsors of the bill include committee member Sen. David Vitter, R-Metairie, and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, the committee's ranking member. Vitter and Snowe have worked Kerry and Landrieu since September 2005 to craft the legislation.

“Now, two months into what is predicted to be a very active hurricane season, this is not a time for partisan politics or procedural maneuvers. It is a time for action,” Landrieu said. “This bipartisan bill, which was unanimously reported out of committee, creates a better, more efficient (Small Business Administration) disaster response, and I urge my colleagues to help us move this important bill forward.”

“The Republicans standing in the way of passing this bill should be ashamed because we can’t afford another Katrina-like response from the federal government,” said Kerry, the committee's chairman.

“This bill has been fully vetted, has bipartisan support and we’ve taken care to make changes to address every single concern raised. Yet, here we are today with Republicans blocking the very tools we need in Washington to get aid out to disaster victims quickly without red tape bureaucracy," Kerry said.

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