House sets vote for Sandy aid after criticism

Posted: Thu 4:53 AM, Jan 03, 2013

Backhoe operator Keith Henry levels a storm-damaged home in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough of New York, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. The splintered plywood, mangled appliances and sodden sheetrock, as well as shreds of clothing and family photos will be added to the increasing piles of rubble being cleared in New York as the cleanup from Superstorm Sandy continues. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House is headed for a vote on aid for Superstorm Sandy victims after House Speaker John Boehner mollified Republicans from New York and New Jersey upset with his decision to cancel action on the bill.

Facing intense pressure, Boehner agreed Wednesday to schedule a vote Friday on $9 billion for the national flood insurance program and another vote on Jan. 15 for a remaining $51 billion in the package.

A Republican congressman from New York, Peter King, left a Wednesday meeting with Boehner without the anger that led him to rip into the speaker Tuesday night. He called the latest meeting very positive.

Sandy was the most costly natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and one of the worst storms ever in the Northeast.

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