WASHINGTON -
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, after staying late on Tuesday night to pass a bill avoiding the "fiscal cliff," said a scheduled vote on relief aid to victims of Hurricane Sandy was scrapped.
And they're imploring House Speaker John Boehner to reschedule the vote.
Representatives from hard-hit New York and New Jersey, along with neighboring Pennsylvania and states that previously received disaster aid, such as Louisiana, took turns assailing the move Tuesday night as the clock moved toward midnight.
Criticism came from both sides of the aisle.
Last week, the Senate did pass a $60-billion Sandy relief bill.
That legislation was expected to face new hurdles in the House, where the bill was being split into two parts. One would be for $27 billion to fund immediate recovery needs, while the other $33 billion would go toward long-term work and other projects.
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was among those to say the House needed to act on Sandy relief.
"We cannot leave here doing nothing," she said. "That would be a disgrace."
Pelosi spoke just after Pennsylvania Congressman Patrick Meehan described an encounter in an elevator with a Sandy survivor who had been sleeping in a pickup truck.
"We have stepped up for neighbors in other parts of our country because these acts of nature are larger than any individual. We must be larger than that," Meehan said, and "have the ability to give that support to those in this time of need."
Others called it a moral obligation, and some even said they hoped the move was in no way retaliation for states voting Democratic in the election that came shortly after the superstorm.
When there was a motion to adjourn the House just before 12 a.m., there were a number of members who shouted "No!" But the night came to a close, and the House recessed until 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Since it happened so late, there was no public furor yet from Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who will no doubt be asked whether his new found friendship and admiration for the president just days before the election may be getting a bit of payback now with this delay in help from the GOP leadership of Congress, FOX 29's Steve Keeley reported.
