House passes $7.9bn Hurricane Harvey aid package

The US House of Representatives has approved a $ 7.9 billion package to aid the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana, as Hurricane Irma continued tracking towards Florida.

With 419 lawmakers in favor and only three opposed, the bill was sent to the Senate in hopes that President Donald Trump will be able to sign it before Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds run out at the end of this week, AP reported.

The Republican leadership hoped to tie the aid package to a long-term debt limit increase, but the opposition Democrats would only agree to a limited, three-month measure.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) told reporters the idea proposed by House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) was “ridiculous” and that this was no time to play politics with the debt ceiling.

The US government debt reached its statutory limit in March, prompting the Treasury Department to suspend sales of certain securities. Congress will need to raise the debt ceiling by September 29 to avoid a default  and fund the government by September 30, to avoid a shutdown of executive branch operations.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

RT – Daily news

Post Author: martin

Martin is an enthusiastic programmer, a webdeveloper and a young entrepreneur. He is intereted into computers for a long time. In the age of 10 he has programmed his first website and since then he has been working on web technologies until now. He is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of BriefNews.eu and PCHealthBoost.info Online Magazines. His colleagues appreciate him as a passionate workhorse, a fan of new technologies, an eternal optimist and a dreamer, but especially the soul of the team for whom he can do anything in the world.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.