New Jersey Losses
New Jersey's insured losses due to Irene are estimated at $751.4 million, and total economic losses at $2.1 billion, according to Kinetic Analysis Corp., a Silver Spring, Maryland- based disaster-cost forecaster.
Cantor, a Virginia Republican, has stepped back from comments he made in an Aug. 29 interview on Fox television.
"As I've said continuously, we will find the monies for disaster relief," Cantor said in an Aug. 31 message on Twitter.
"No one is talking about holding funding hostage or blocking it," Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for Cantor, said in an interview. "We should always make the effort to try to pay for it."
In 2004, Cantor helped his state get about $20 million in federal disaster relief after a tropical storm struck. He voted against an amendment to offset the disaster aid with budget cuts elsewhere.
'Probably A Mistake'
Cantor "would be the first to tell you that looking back, that was probably a mistake" to vote against the offsets, Dayspring said.
The nation's debt was less than $8 trillion at the time and now stands at $14.6 trillion. Republicans regained control of the House last year "promising to be stewards of the taxpayer's dollar," Dayspring said.
Cantor agrees with Christie that people struggling need disaster relief quickly and that those funds can be offset later, Dayspring said.