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Stewart Joins Lee In 'No' Vote For Harvey Relief Bill

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Utah Congressman Chris Stewart is defending his “no” vote on a House bill that provides disaster relief funding for Houston residents after Hurricane Harvey.

Stewart was one of 90 House Republicans to vote against the spending bill, which easily passed both the House and Senate this week.

The $15 billion package includes direct assistance for victims of Hurricane Harvey and small businesses seeking to rebuild. It also includes a short-term extension to keep the government funded and raises the country’s debt ceiling.

Stewart said in a statement he voted against the package because Congress had “abandoned our military and failed to address our national debt.”

Senator Mike Lee also voted against the package in the Senate. He said he was opposed to tying the debt limit to disaster relief, calling the maneuver “disgraceful.”

This isn’t the first time Lee has voted against relief bills on fiscal grounds. He also voted against the aid package for Hurricane Sandy in 2013.

The Harvey relief bill now heads to President’s Trump desk for signing.

 

Julia joined KUER in 2016 after a year reporting at the NPR member station in Reno, Nev. During her stint, she covered battleground politics, school overcrowding, and any story that would take her to the crystal blue shores of Lake Tahoe. Her work earned her two regional Edward R. Murrow awards. Originally from the mountains of Western North Carolina, Julia graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2008 with a degree in journalism. She’s worked as both a print and radio reporter in several states and several countries — from the 2008 Beijing Olympics to Dakar, Senegal. Her curiosity about the American West led her to take a spontaneous, one-way road trip to the Great Basin, where she intends to continue preaching the gospel of community journalism, public radio and podcasting. In her spare time, you’ll find her hanging with her beagle Bodhi, taking pictures of her food and watching Patrick Swayze movies.
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