Although Republican Senator James Inhofe rejected federal aid for the Hurricane Sandy relief package, Inhofe said that the federal funding for his home state of Oklahoma would be "totally different."
In the wake of the devastating tornado that ripped through an Oklahoma City suburb, Sen. Inhofe rejected comparisons between federal aid for this disaster and the Hurricane Sandy relief package that he voted against.
That was a "totally different" situation, he told a MSNBC news anchor who pointed out that he called the Hurricane Sandy relief fund a "slush fund."
"Well, let's look at that. That was totally different," said the conservative congressman. "They were getting things-for instance that was supposed to be in New Jersey, they had things in the Virgin Islands, they were fixing roads there, they were putting roofs on houses in Washington, D.C., everyone was getting in and exploiting the tragedy taking place. That won't happen in Oklahoma."
Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn also voted against the Hurricane Sandy package and has said that any federal aid to Oklahoma must be offset by spending cuts.
President Obama has declared a federal disaster in Oklahoma. The Washington Post reports that as of Tuesday morning, FEMA has $11.6 billion in its Disaster Relief Fund.
There is no word on what a congressional relief package for Oklahoma would look like or if one will be needed. However, if one is necessary, it is unclear how the Oklahoma Republicans will ensure that there is no "pork" in any federal aid package.
Watch a video clip of Sen. Inhofe below.
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