Joaquin Castro pushes for a clean bill for Harvey funding aid

Rep. Joaquin Castro said Wednesday that he wants a clean bill for Tropical Storm Harvey relief aid.

“As I said before, I hope that there are no legislative games that are played here. That relief aid for Texas isn’t tied to anything else that forces either Republicans or Democrats to choose between the one thing that they really want and the one thing they really hate. We ought to be able to offer relief for the people of Texas without any games,” Mr. Castro, Texas Democrat, said on MSNBC.

Republicans have pushed for a clean funding bill for recovery efforts in Texas and Louisiana in wake of the devastating storm late last month, but some fiscal hawks have also said they want the money allocated specifically instead of a “blank check.”

Mr. Castro said, however, that both parties are working in a bipartisan way to provide the first step in what will be a massive recovery effort.

“We absolutely are, both Republicans and Democrats. I agree with state officials in Texas that it will be well over $100 billion,” he said.

Mr. Castro’s district was not in the direct line of the storm, but it has sent community resources to the Houston area to help rescue and recovery efforts.