Western Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King, Saturday issued a statement after Congress passed legislation to provide $8.1 billion in emergency funding for disaster recovery. The bill included $6.4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Disaster Relief Fund and $1.7 billion in funding for disaster recovery assistance through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps). 

King said “This year’s flooding along the Missouri River did significant amounts of damage to homes, businesses, and farm land, and it greatly weakened much of the infrastructure that’s in place up and down the river to protect us from flooding.” He added “The Corps has estimated that nearly $750 million in damage was done to the levees and other flood control infrastructure in the Missouri River basin. Getting our levees repaired to their pre-flood specifications has been a priority (of his) since (the) water levels crested.” King said “Without the protection of the levees, home owners and businesses will be unable to rebuild and many farmers will be forced to pay triple crop insurance premiums.” 

The legislation passed the House Friday. In addition, the House passed legislation to offset the cost of the disaster aid with an across-the-board cut to non-defense spending in Fiscal Year 2012. The legislation was approved by the Senate Saturday, although the offset for the disaster relief was stripped out by a vote of 43-56. The legislation now awaits the president’s signature.