House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-7th reiterated today that federal disaster aid funding would be available if needed and said "this whole story … there really is nothing there other than an attempt to try and make a political story out of it."
Cantor spoke with reporters after he toured the Henrico County jail this afternoon and met with student deputy sheriffs at the facility.
Cantor drew criticism this week for his comments that the House of Representatives will require offsetting cuts to pay for disaster aid, a position he held back in May as well, after a tornado ripped through Joplin, Mo.
The money for FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund in the House-passed measure has been offset by a transfer of $1 billion and a rescission of $500 million in emergency funds from the Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, according to Cantor's office.
As for damage assessments from Hurricane Irene, Cantor said if states seek disaster declarations then FEMA will decide whether to approve them.
"At that point we'll expect to hear from the president and the administration that there's a need for more money," Cantor said.
"As I've said continuously, we'll find the monies, the monies will be there, you know, but in the process right now, the monies are already there, the Senate just needs to act to fund the existing monies that the House has already approved."
He said he's not worried that a future request would get bogged in a political battle similar to that over raising the debt limit.
"Not at all," he said. "These are disasters that there is a precedent for a federal role. I believe there's an appropriate federal role. And the monies will be there. There's never been a question about that so again the attempt to try and portray this as some kind of political issue, it's not. We have a budget issue for sure, we all know that."
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