Former North Dakota Congressman Earl Pomeroy says he can relate to the anger and frustration felt by New York and New Jersey members of Congress – over the delay in Congressional action on Hurricane Sandy relief.
House speaker John Boehner canceled a vote on a $60-billion aid package. That vote was supposed to happen right after the “fiscal cliff” bill was passed.
Pomeroy says it reminded him of late May, 1997. An aid package for Grand Forks residents devastated by the Red River flood was supposed to be taken up. Instead, Congress left town for the Memorial Day recess. Pomeroy objected to the motion to adjourn for the holiday.
"I had no intention of letting the Congress go home for the Memorial Day recess without voting on our flood relief," said Pomeroy. "It came to a vote, and it was voted down."
But Pomeroy says House leadership called a recess instead.
"They will went home without giving us our relief," said Pomeroy. "But the leadership suffered a defeat."
Pomeroy says when his colleagues returned to their districts, their constituents got after them for taking a break while leaving Grand Forks hanging.
"They would have their town meetings, and people would say to them, 'Why haven't you helped the people of Grand Forks?'" said Pomeroy. "It was a compelling picture of disaster need that we represented to the entire country, and peoiple from Tennessee to Utah let their people know they didn't want politics to be played with disaster relief."
Pomeroy credits the efforts of then-Grand Forks Mayor Pat Owens, to keep the Grand Forks disaster in people's minds.
Pomeroy says he can relate to what New York and New Jersey residents affected by Sandy are feeling.
"As I was watching the raw emotion of a lot of the New York and New Jersey Republicans, as well as Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), I knew exactly how they felt," Pomeroy said.
But Pomeroy says he's confident residents affected by Sandy will see some relief.
"Congerss generally does the right thing after they've tried everything else," said Pomeroy.
Pomeroy -- a Democrat -- served in the US House from 1993 to 2010.