WASHINGTON, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday passed a disaster aid bill after conservative lawmakers blocked the bill last week.
The bill, designed to provide funding for regions hit by natural disasters, was approved in a 354-58 vote. It will be sent to the White House for ratification as the Senate passed the bill in a landslide in late May.
The measure will provide 19.1 billion U.S. dollars to disaster-struck regions, including a 900-million-U.S.-dollar package to aid Puerto Rico, a U.S. overseas territory that was devastated by Hurricane Maria in the fall of 2017 and has been struggling to recover ever since.
A number of Republican lawmakers sought to block the bill last week, arguing it deserved further debate.
Chip Roy, representing the state of Texas, said adding spending should be coupled with spending slashes elsewhere.
"I am still troubled we're poised to spend 19 billion U.S. dollars that is not paid for when we are racking up $100 million an hour in national debt," he said on Monday.
The efforts of the Republican lawmakers were criticized by their Democratic counterparts.
"We're rejecting the political stunts and grandstanding that have made it difficult to deliver much-needed disaster relief to families and communities across America," House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey said.
