President Donald Trump signs $15.3 billion hurricane disaster relief, debt ceiling measure

WASHINGTON (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Friday signed a package to provide $15.25 billion for hurricane disaster relief and raise the debt limit, the White House press secretary said.

Sarah Sanders posted on Twitter that the president signed the measure “providing much-needed support for storm survivors.”

The measure providing aid for hurricanes Harvey and Irma — tied to a temporary debt ceiling extension deal between President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats — passed the House by a vote of 316-90 earlier Friday.

Included in the package is $450 million for the Small Business Authority disaster loan program, $7.4 billion in housing grants and $7.4 billion slotted for the Federal Emergency Management Agency in an earlier bill passed by the house.

The extended debt ceiling measure will give Congress until Dec. 8 to agree on a new spending plan.

The Senate also easily approved the measure by a vote of 80-17 on Thursday.

Some House Republicans initially opposed the three-month debt ceiling extension, including House Speaker Paul Ryan who later spoke in support of the legislation on Thursday.

“We need to make sure that the government responds to people,” he said. “So the president wanted to make sure that we are — are going together as Republicans and Democrats to respond to this.”

All five living former U.S. presidents came together to form the One America Appeal to encourage citizens to support recovery efforts for Hurricane Harvey.

Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama appeared in a video calling for donations.

“The former Presidents were inspired to come together in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, which unleashed devastating flooding – and spurred thousands of first responders and neighbors into action,” the charity’s website stated. “More than one million people have been displaced by Harvey, which has caused up to $180 billion in damages to over 200,000 homes over a 300-mile path of destruction.”

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