Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said that there's "hypocrisy" on the part of the Oklahoma senators who voted against federal aid for Hurricane Sandy relief, but who now want aid for their state in the wake of the devastating tornado. But, King said, "we have an obligation to come forward" and help the people of Oklahoma.
“I think there’s a lot of hypocrisy involved here, [Sen. James] Inhofe saying Sandy aid was corrupt but Oklahoma won’t be,” King told Politico. “But I don’t want to hold the people of Oklahoma responsible for what elected officials are saying, for the husband and wife without a home, for the people who lost all their worldly possessions.”
Inhofe, a Republican, said Tuesday that tornado aid is "totally different" from Hurricane Sandy aid. His colleague, Tom Coburn, also a Republican, called for aid to the state to be offset with cuts elsewhere.
“I think they should get every penny they need," King also said, according to Roll Call. "I’ve been through this. We can do the political games later on, the important thing is to get them the aid as quickly as they need it and not to make a political issue out of it."
King was very outspoken in criticizing his Republican colleagues who voted against Sandy aid in the fall, saying at the time: “People in my party, they wonder why they’re becoming a minority party. They’re writing off New York, they’re writing off New Jersey.”
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