TRENTON – Senate President Steve Sweeney issued the following statement today regarding Congressional Republicans delaying a vote on a package that would provide billions in much-needed Hurricane Sandy relief for New Jersey:
“We may have dodged the ‘fiscal cliff,’ but Republicans in Congress went a step further: they dodged in providing Hurricane Sandy relief for New Jersey. That is unconscionable. Our state needs relief now! That doesn’t mean Congressional Republicans just shrug and say no vote tonight. It means they go back to work for as long as it takes until something is done, period.
“If they don’t feel like taking action, I invite them then to use this break in their time to come visit what is left of the Jersey Shore. They can see the destroyed houses, shattered boardwalks and decimated businesses. They can sit and meet with homeowners and business owners and explain to them why they are going to have to wait to see relief.
“The aid bill currently sitting in Congress needs action now. It is too important to New Jersey to just sit in limbo. I am calling on our state’s Republican congressmen to push their fellow party members to vote for passage immediately. I am also calling on Governor Christie, the man who delivered the keynote address at his party’s convention, to call on his party’s congressional members to get their act together. New Jersey deserves better.”