Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee spoke out Tuesday on the senate floor against the $36.5 billion funding alotted to the National Flood Insurance Program.
Lee said the bill wouldn't actually help hurricane victims in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.
“Instead of helping the victims of these disasters through responsible aid paired with lasting reform, Congress has rushed to its favorite so-called solution," he said. "Billions in new spending, with little accountability or oversight. If this $36.5 billion aid package passes, it will mean more money and power for government programs that in some cases left us vulnerable to these disasters.”
According to the Insurance Information Institute, only 12 percent of Americans had flood insurance in 2015, which is why Lee said most storm victims won't actually receive any help.
“Congress isn’t making NFIP bring its actuarial practices into line with reality," he said. "It isn’t even appropriating new funds for another failed program . . . That, at least, would be business as usual in Washington. Instead, Congress effectively is giving a debt amnesty to the National Flood Insurance Program. It is absolving NFIP of its sins . . . and making American taxpayers do the penance.”
Despite Lee’s protests, however, the bill passed through the senate 82-17 Tuesday. He added that any funding from congress should go directly to victims, not to the National Flood Insurance Program.
