The U.S. House is scheduled to vote on a spending bill this afternoon that includes more than $2.65 billion in emergency flood relief.
Congressman Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, says all members of Iowa’s congressional delegation are united in this effort. "I look forward to working with the president and OMB director Nussle who is also in Iowa…to make sure that we have the proper amount of federal relief available to people in Iowa who have been affected by these terrible floods," Braley says.
Jim Nussle, director of the Office of Management and the Budget, is the former Iowa congressman from Manchester who Braley succeeded in congress. Nussle is among the delegation of officials who are touring Cedar Rapids and Iowa City today with President Bush.
Braley and the other four Iowa congressmen are urging FEMA to require just 10 percent in local government matching funds when federal grants are awarded to cover the costs of rebuilding and repairing public infrastructure like bridges and water systems that’ve been damaged by the flooding.