AL.com | How they voted: Alabama representatives split on $50.7 billion Sandy aid bill

How they voted: Alabama representatives split on $50.7 billion Sandy aid bill
By George Talbot | AL.com | January 16, 2013

Alabama's congressional delegation was split on the $50.7 billion Sandy aid package that passed the House of Representatives late Tuesday, with three representatives voting in favor of the proposal and four voting against.

U.S. Reps. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, and Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, joined Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, in voting for the disaster relief bill.

U.S. Reps. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, and Mike Rogers, R-Saks, all voted against the bill.

The legislation was adopted by a 241-180 vote, largely supported by Democrats.

Bachus and Bonner were among just 49 Republicans who voted for the measure, with many of them coming from areas along the Atlantic Coast that were damaged by the storm.

Also voting in favor of the bill was Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Miss., who represents areas of coastal Mississippi devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Palazzo voted against a previous bill to provide funding for flood insurance claims as a result of Sandy, but said he changed his view after touring areas of New York and New Jersey that were damaged by Sandy.

Republicans accounted for 179 of the 180 votes against the aid package, with many of them saying they wanted to see budget cuts elsewhere to offset some of its costs. Brooks, who also opposed the previous Sandy aid bill, funds to help compensate the storm's victims.

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