House OKs $7.5-Billion Emergency Aid Bill
The House approved a $7.5-billion emergency assistance bill late Tuesday that would provide more than $1 billion in disaster relief funds, including federal aid for repairs to public facilities damaged by the devastating fire in the Berkeley Hills fire.
The measure, adopted 252-162 by the House, must be approved by the Senate and awaits a likely veto from President Bush. The White House opposes the bill because it does not include tax increases or spending cuts to pay for it.
The bill would give the Federal Emergency Management Agency $693 million to cover a long list of declared presidential disasters in more than 40 states--including $300 million for California’s 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
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