THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 27, 1996 TAG: 9609270542
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 38 lines
North Carolina's congressional delegation is pushing for $700 million more in Hurricane Fran relief to go with the $1.3 billion disaster package approved this week on Capitol Hill.
U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms claimed partial success Wednesday for attaching a package for additional business, farm and debris removal to a Senate bill that must be approved before the fiscal year ends next week.
``Thanks to the Senate leadership who have been supportive from the beginning, the total Senate figure is precisely what I and our folks have been working for - $2 billion,'' Helms, R-N.C., said Wednesday.
Congress Tuesday night approved a spending bill for the Veterans Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development that includes $1.3 billion in additional funds for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
But Helms criticized President Clinton as stingy for offering just $291 million in additional relief, and called on his fellow delegates in the U.S. House to push the momentum for the proposed $700 million.
``Needless to say, I hope the House of Representatives will be as compassionate toward the needs of North Carolina's people as the Senate has been,'' Helms said in a statement.
Rep. Eva Clayton, D-N.C., said Wednesday she would ask her leadership to add a $725 million appropriation onto the House omnibus budget bill, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported. She said she is getting little resistance.
``If any of us can get the extra money, I think we ought to try,'' Clayton said, adding that she was pleased with Clinton's response.
If the Senate package had not been included in the bill, the delegation would have been forced to try to amend other bills already before Congress to include the aid package.
``This is a sizable victory for the people of North Carolina,'' Helms said. by CNB