>From today's Congressional Quarterly newsletter: House Passes $10.5 Billion Hurricane Relief Bill
The House on Friday passed $10.5 billion in emergency funds to aid in relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The early afternoon voice vote essentially cleared the supplemental spending bill [the pork//lcm], < http://news.google.com/news?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=supplemental+spending+bill > which the Senate passed Thursday night after returning early from Congress' five-week summer break. President Bush on Friday called the measure "a small down payment" on the amount that will ultimately be needed to rebuild New Orleans and the rest of the decimated Gulf Coast. The legislation includes $10 billion requested by the administration for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's quickly dwindling disaster relief account and $500 million to replenish Defense Department operations and maintenance accounts. Additional supplemental appropriations are expected in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, House GOP leaders are considering a much broader economic stimulus package to address the disaster's impact on the national economy. House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said the economic package might include assistance for the agriculture and transportation industries and direct aid to state and local governments. Blunt also would not rule of the possibility of tax cuts.
