Air Force Base Cut in Senate Storm Aid Bill

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved legislation Thursday to provide $7.2 billion in disaster relief for storm-ravaged South Florida and Louisiana but rejected President Bush’s request for nearly $500 million to reconstruct devastated Homestead Air Force Base.

The package, to be considered by the full Senate early next week, is only slightly smaller than the $7.6-billion proposal outlined earlier by the President.

The House Appropriations Committee is working on similar legislation and is expected to release it sometime next week. A draft prepared by committee Chairman Jamie L. Whitten (D-Miss.) would authorize $8.8 billion for the aid effort and include rebuilding of the base.

In declining to approve funds for rebuilding Homestead, Senate critics characterized the proposal as a politically motivated effort to win votes in a state critical to the President’s reelection campaign. Homestead had been a major employer in hurricane-ravaged South Florida.

“I lost a base last year . . . and the President cavalierly says we’re going to rebuild Homestead,” Sen. Dale Bumpers (D-Ark.) told the Associated Press. “When President Bush went down and said he’d rebuild Homestead, you’re talking about politics of the rankest kind.”

Instead, the Senate committee approved only $26 million to clean up debris on the base.

Despite some differences among the various plans, a disaster relief bill is expected to move through Congress quickly. Both Democratic and Republican congressional leaders have pledged to act promptly, despite election year pressures.

All three versions include spending and loans for families, businesses and governments to rebuild from the costliest natural disaster in the country’s history. Andrew caused an estimated $20 billion worth of damage in Florida and $1.5 billion more in Louisiana. In all, the storm and its aftermath have been linked to the deaths of at least 53 people in Florida, Louisiana and the Bahamas.

Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles has complained to lawmakers that Bush’s original proposal for $7.6 billion in relief underestimates the extent of the damage. However, congressional leaders have pledged to appropriate additional monies if the tab proves larger than expected.