Katrina Coverage

U.S. House backs Katrina aid, cuts impotence drugs

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved $500 million in aid to Hurricane Katrina victims, financed by stopping federal payments for impotence drugs.

The House voted to free up the $500 million to help Katrina-affected Gulf states pay unemployment benefits to storm victims.

Senators vent frustration over Katrina aid bill

Leaders of a Senate committee including its Republican head bluntly accused the Bush administration on Thursday of sabotaging a bill to provide Medicaid health assistance for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"Unfortunately, the White House is working against me behind the scenes, and I resent that, considering how I've delivered so much for the White House over the last five years," Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley (news, bio, voting record) said at a hearing on recovery efforts from the U.S. Gulf Coast hurricanes.

Grassley, of Iowa, has been a key ally of
President George W. Bush's proposal to overhaul the
Social Security retirement system at a time when other Republicans have been wary.

He and the committee's top Democrat, Montana Sen. Max Baucus (news, bio, voting record), are pushing a bill that would ease Medicaid eligibility requirements for storm victims for five months and provide states with reimbursement for 100 percent of costs for such patients.

Costs for Medicaid, the health care program for the poor, are normally split between Washington and the states.

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