WASHINGTON — The $60.4 billion Hurricane Sandy disaster-aid bill hit the Senate floor yesterday as two prominent Republicans criticized the plan’s questionable spending.
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) blasted the $125 million designated for a watershed program to combat wildfires and droughts, $50 million for tree planting on private properties, $20 million for a national water study and $15 million for NASA.
The senators also highlighted $336 million earmarked for Amtrak — with no specifics on how that huge sum would be spent.
The duo also estimated that 64 percent of the aid would not be spent for nearly two years.
“Americans impacted by Hurricane Sandy deserve better than this,” they said in a statement.
The Post first reported Saturday that some of the funds would go towards departments unrelated to the storm — such as fisheries in Alaska.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) yesterday likened the storm damage to the devastation that New York saw after the 9/11 terror attacks.