King Won’t Hold Cruz and Cornyn Votes on Sandy Against Texas
Cruz spokeswoman says Sandy bill was ‘chock-full of pork’
New York Rep. Peter T. King said New York won’t hold Texas responsible for its senators’ vote against aid to Superstorm Sandy when it comes time to vote for emergency aid for Hurricane Harvey.
King tweeted that despite “Ted Cruz & his Texas cohorts” voting against emergency aid for New York and New Jersey after the two states were devastated by Sandy in 2012, he would vote to assist Texas.
“I won’t abandon Texas the way Ted Cruz did New York,” King tweeted.
Ted Cruz & Texas cohorts voted vs NY/NJ aid after Sandy but I’ll vote 4 Harvey aid. NY wont abandon Texas. 1 bad turn doesnt deserve another
— Rep. Pete King (@RepPeteKing) August 27, 2017
As lifelong NYer w/ NY values I will vote for emergency Harvey $ for Ted Cruz‘s constituents. Above all, true Americans must stand together.
— Rep. Pete King (@RepPeteKing) August 27, 2017
I won’t abandon Texas the way Ted Cruz did New York: https://t.co/CRddWno2Aa
— Rep. Pete King (@RepPeteKing) August 27, 2017
“1 bad turn doesnt deserve another,” he said in another tweet.
At the time, Cruz defended his vote by saying much of the spending in the relief bill was unrelated to Sandy.
“Unfortunately, cynical politicians in Washington could not resist loading up this relief bill with billions in new spending utterly unrelated to Sandy,” Cruz said then in a statement.
Cruz’s spokeswoman Catherine Frazier sniped back at King in a similar vein, calling King’s criticism “unreal.”
Unreal. 2/3 of Sandy bill wasn’t emergency spending. It was chock-full of pork. Relief bills should be for direct relief, not pet projects https://t.co/teiNw81nSr
— Catherine Frazier (@catblackfrazier) August 27, 2017
A spokesman for Sen. John Cornyn made a similar point, saying that he voted for Sandy relief but voted against the final package since it had unrelated spending, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
“The version that ended up passing, unfortunately, contained provisions unrelated to the storm and ‘emergency’ money that wasn’t requested by local officials there,” the spokesman said.
King has frequently dinged Cruz for using New York as a punching bag for conservatives, saying New York donors should “have their head examined” if they gave to Cruz.
After Cruz refused to endorse President Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, King called Cruz “a liar and a self-centered fraud” with a “lizard smirk.”
Rep. Frank LoBiondo repeated those sentiments, saying “despite my Texas colleagues’ refusal to support aid” in South New Jersey that he would vote to aid Texas.
Despite my TX colleagues refusal to support aid in #SouthJersey time of need, I will support emergency disaster $$ for those impacted
— Frank LoBiondo (@RepLoBiondo) August 28, 2017
New Jersey Democratic Rep. said despite the fact Texas members voted against Sandy aid, that the federal government “must support Fellow Americans in need. You have mine.”
Some #TX members tried to deny #NJ aid after Sandy, but federal gov’t must support fellow Americans in time of need. You have mine. #Harvey
— Bill Pascrell, Jr. (@BillPascrell) August 26, 2017
