Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa) believes that federal aid for people impacted by Hurricane Sandy should be approved only with a specific spending plan in place so funds are not used for "Gucci bags and massage parlors.”
"I want to get them the resources that are necessary to lift them out of this water and the sand and the ashes and the death that's over there in the East Coast and especially in the Northeast," King said Tuesday night in Mason City, Iowa, “But not one big shot to just open up the checkbook, because they spent it on Gucci bags and massage parlors and everything you can think of in addition to what was necessary," he said later, referring to those who received federal relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The congressman, who is currently campaigning for his sixth term, was one of only eleven members of Congress to vote against a bill to help Hurricane Katrina victims because King believed it cost too much.
King said last week that his vote against Hurricane Katrina relief was "a good vote" and "a principled vote."
I live in New York and, although I was fortunate in making it through Hurricane Sandy intact, it’s my neighbors Rep. King is accusing of clamoring for handbags and, er, “adult entertainment,” so if you’re wondering, as I was, if the Honorable Mr. King lives by those same noble principles when the victims of disaster are in his home district, wonder no more.
One only has to look back as far as October, 2011, to find Congressman King announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had granted Iowa's request for individual disaster relief from Missouri River flooding. Iowa's request for Individual Assistance for portions of the state had been initially denied by FEMA, but it was King, leading Iowa's Congressional delegation, who persuaded FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate to make federal aid available to his constituents.
In making that announcement, King released the following statement:
"This has been the longest summer and fall for thousands of western Iowans. I'm relieved they will now get some relief. Next, we have to pass my legislation, H.R. 2942, which requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to manage the reservoirs to protect us from serious flooding in the case of the largest runoff experienced which is no longer the 1881 flood but 2011."
When there was federal money to be had, there was Rep. King, shoving his way to the front of the line, with his hand stretched out. Rep. King is not only heartless; he is also a first class hypocrite.
Unless, of course, thousands of Iowans tonight are grabbing their Gucci bags and heading out for a massage, in which case perhaps I’ve misjudged the man.