Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., told Newsmax Friday that Democrats are likely to try and sneak in several of their agenda items into bills that include disaster funding for Florida in the wake of Hurricane Ian before probably losing their majority next year.
"There will be, what we would call in Congress, a disaster supplemental to help the people on Florida's west coast deal with the devastation there that is not put into the appropriations that are going on in today's congressional proceedings," Mast said during "American Agenda" Friday. "Where that becomes really political is, Democrats in the middle of December, before they move into the minority, [are] going to get another shot at doing appropriations, and one of the big items on that is going to be what happens with Florida and disaster funding for Florida's west coast.
"I guarantee you right now Democrats, because it's going to be their last shot at funding before they go into the minority, [are] going to try to attach crazy leftist Democrat programs to try and get Floridians and other people to vote for them because it's going to have something important, like helping Florida recover."
The Category 4 hurricane slammed into the southwest coast on Wednesday near Cayo Costa, a barrier island near Fort Myers, flooding streets, toppling trees, decimating buildings, and killing more than nine people, the Associated Press reported.
Mast said the "tremendous devastation" throughout the state will take years to rebuild and recover from, and that the people impacted by the storm do not care what the political affiliation of their representatives are at this point.
"For most people that are over there on that coast, they're thinking about water, they're thinking about electricity, they're thinking about the roof over their heads. Those basic essentials that people need to live, they are thinking about food," he said. "They're not caring whether somebody has an elephant or a donkey on their T-shirt. They want the government to function."
Despite the potential political conflicts that could come if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., tries to tie disaster aid to other Democrat agenda items before likely losing the majority, Mast said the people of Florida are strong, and will come through the disaster.
"We're Floridians, we're resilient," he said. "We prepare for this all year long up until the next hurricane season, so we're going to be OK. We're going to make our way through it. This is what we, as Americans, do when there's a hurricane in Florida. Americans from around the country come in and they help Floridians.
"When there's a tornado in Oklahoma, or somewhere else, we drop what we're doing, and we go and help. When there is an earthquake in Haiti, we drop what we're doing. We give of our resources as we go and help. It's who we are."
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