Associated Press: Senators express frustration on fisheries aid
JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska's U.S. senators voted with the majority in supporting a $50.5 billion emergency relief package for victims of Superstorm Sandy.
But Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich expressed frustration that $150 million for Alaska and other states affected by fisheries' disasters wasn't included. Both said they would continue pushing for that aid.
Begich said Alaska may be farther away, but that doesn't make fisheries disaster any less damaging or significant to the people affected by it. Murkowski referred to fisheries disasters as "fish droughts in our rivers and our oceans."
The measure now goes to the president.
The package also doesn't include money that could be used to protect U.S. shores from debris from the 2011 tsunami in Japan. An earlier version that had cleared the Senate had.
Source: By Associated Press
