Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that money from Congress for Southern California wildfire aid will have “strings attached.”
Partial transcript as follows:
MARGARET BRENNAN: There’s a busy week ahead in the Senate, but before I get to that business, I do want to ask you about these fires in California. Do you expect that Congress will have to provide an additional aid package, and if so, when?
BARRASSO: What we’re seeing is heartbreaking, its horrible, affecting people, old and young, rich and poor. Everyone in the Wyoming National Guard is there on the scene, helping with manpower as well as equipment. When you see what’s being shown on television, in addition to the tragedy on the ground, you’re also seeing gross mismanagement in California by elected officials, and it’s heartbreaking to hear the fire chief say that they’ve diverted all of this money away from the fire department to be used for social programs when they were already stretched too thin. So yes, I expect there’s going to be hearings, there’s going to be requests of Congress. There can’t be a blank check on this, however, because people want to make sure that as rebuilding occurs, as things go on in California, they have to be resilient, so that these sorts of things can’t happen again. And the policies of the liberal administration out there, I believe have made these fires worse.
BRENNAN: Do you expect, though, that Congress and Republicans will still help these Americans in need, even if they don’t like their local politics in the party?
BARRASSO: I expect that there will be strings attached to money that is ultimately approved, and it has to do with being ready the next time, because this was a gross failure this time.
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