01.28.13

Hoeven, Heitkamp, Cramer Support Sandy Supplemental Disaster Legislation

Other Disasters, like Minot Flooding, Eligible for Recovery Assistance

WASHINGTON – Senators John Hoeven and Heidi Heitkamp and Congressman Kevin Cramer today said Congress has approved the $50.5 billion Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, supplemental appropriations designed to assist victims of Hurricane Sandy and other natural disasters. The measure has passed both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and now goes to the president’s desk for signature.

The legislation includes a $16 billion appropriation for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant disaster recovery program and is available for events occurring in 2011, 2012 and 2013, making Minot and other communities that experienced flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes and wildfires eligible to apply. HUD provides these flexible grants to help cities, counties and states recover from presidentially declared disasters.

“As North Dakotans, we know the importance of a prompt and effective federal response for both fighting and recovering from disasters,” the delegation said. “That’s why we worked to gain approval of this measure making sure that Minot and other North Dakota communities still recovering from flooding are eligible for assistance.”