Super Sandy: Obama asks for $60bn - BBC
This report is from the BBC.
US President Barack
Obama has requested more than $60bn (£37bn) from Congress for response,
recovery and repairs in the wake of "Superstorm" Sandy.
The scale of the request was welcomed
by the governors of the two worst-hit states, New York and New Jersey.
But the request fell
short of the $80bn estimate of the total damage done in those states and in
Connecticut.
The White House
said the storm was on track to be the second or third most costly storm in US
history.
Only Hurricane
Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992 caused more damage, Jeffrey Zients
of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) wrote in a letter to House Speaker
John Boehner.
Sandy has been
blamed for more than 120 deaths, and many thousands of people are still unable
to live in their flood-damaged homes.
No spending cuts
The presidential
request will have to pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives
and the Democratic-led Senate before funds are made available.
It is expected to
face scrutiny in Congress, where many fiscal conservatives are strongly opposed
to increases in US federal spending.
