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Congress Approves $2 Bln Hurricane Aid for Florida Congress Approves $2 Bln Hurricane Aid for Florida Email this story Sep 7, 8:22 PM (ET) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress on Tuesday passed $2 billion in emergency spending to help hurricane victims in Florida, a crucial battleground state in the upcoming presidential and congressional elections. President Bush on Monday asked Congress for the funds to help Florida recover from Hurricanes Frances and Charley. The money will be used to pay for debris removal, repairs to utilities and infrastructure such as fallen street lights, emergency food and shelter. The White House had told lawmakers that the Federal Emergency Management Agency would run out of money within 24 hours if the request was not approved. "FEMA is out of money tomorrow," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican. House Appropriations Chairman Bill Young, a Florida Republican, said he was concerned that FEMA's funds were nearly exhausted and said he was investigating why this had happened. Bush, who is due to visit Florida on Wednesday, said he would ask Congress for additional money in the coming days. Young said the $2 billion was a stop-gap until full costs are known and Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, warned that his state may need around $4.5 billion in aid. "I want to remind my colleagues that we're not through yet," Nelson said. "We've got some major additional emergency supplemental appropriations." But, in a sign that any further requests for Florida might not pass as easily through Congress, several Senators said they would try and attach funding for other disaster areas to any future bills. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat running for re-election, said he would like to see aid for farmers hit by drought. _________________________________________________________________ Don�t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/E-MAIL_TRIVIA/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
