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4A Daily News – Tuesday, September 27, 2011 Shutdown averted? FEMA has enough disaster money WASHINGTON (AP) — After weeks of political brinkmanship in Congress, the threat of a partial government shut- down appeared to ease Monday with the disclosure that money to aid victims of natural disasters may last through the end of the budget year after all. The revised estimate suggested there would be no interruption in assistance in areas battered by disasters such as Hur- ricane Irene and last summer's tornados in Joplin, Mo., and also that lawmakers could act quickly on once-gridlocked legislation that is needed to keep the government running normally when the new budget year begins on Saturday. Even so, there was no formal announcement that the impasse had been resolved, and White House press secretary Jay Carney said the disaster aid account remained ''dangerously low.'' In the Senate, Majority leader Harry Reid announced a vote would proceed as scheduled on a Democratic-backed bill that included both $1 billion in disaster relief aid for the final few days of the current budget year and money to keep the entire government running when the calendar turns on Saturday. Republicans have already indicated they intend to block the measure because it lacks spending cuts to make sure the disaster aid funding does not push deficits higher. In remarks on the Senate floor, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., unleashed an unusually personal attack on House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., saying the weekslong controversy start- ed when he said, ''Before we can pro- vide help we need to find offsets in the budget.'' She called that ''the Cantor doctrine'' and said the controversy ''could have been avoided if Cantor had just said, 'I'm sorry, but I made a mistake.' But instead of saying that, he doubled down,'' she said. Despite the rhetoric, it appeared an end to the impasse might be at hand as Democrats pressed the White House for formal assurances that FEMA had enough funds to tide it over. The day's events furthered the latest in a string of political standoffs between Democrats and Republicans over deficits, spending and taxes that have rattled financial markets and coincided with polls showing congressional approval ratings at historically low lev- els. A spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Rachel Racusen, said FEMA had $114 million left in its disaster relief fund, enough to last until Thursday or Friday, the final business day of the current bud- get year. She said the exact timing would depend on the number of emer- gency victims who apply for aid, and whether any new disasters occur. FEMA officials had said previously the funds would run out early this week. That concern prompted the Obama administration a few weeks ago to ask Congress to approve a replenishment to tide the agency over through the Sept. 30 end to the fiscal year. House Republicans agreed to provide $1 billion and include the money in a bill that also provides money for most federal agencies for the first few weeks of the 2012 budget year. At the same time, they insisted on cutting spending elsewhere in the budget by $1.5 billion to prevent the deficit from rising, an amount later raised to $1.6 billion. That, in turn, produced a quick attack from Senate Democrats, who opposed cuts and sought to turn the issue to polit- ical advantage. The dispute took on the characteris- tics of earlier clashes that have rattled financial markets and coincided with a historic plunge in poll ratings for Con- gress. Democrats accused Republicans of acting recklessly, while GOP law- makers said Democrats wanted to per- petuate policies that have pushed red ink to astronomical levels. ''I mean, do they want the govern- ment to shut down? Do they want FEMA to close?'' Reid said at one point last week as the controversy grew. The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, responded, ''If there's any lesson we can draw from the debates we've been having here over the last six months, it's that the American people won't accept that excuse any- more. The whole, 'that's the way we've always done it' argument is the reason we've got a $14 trillion dollar debt right now.'' While it was unclear precisely how long FEMA's remaining funds would last, one official said the agency began conserving funds last month as Hurri- cane Irene approached the U.S. main- land, prioritizing its aid to help individ- ual disaster victims and to pay states and local governments for immediate needs such as removing debris and building From a TV Select weekly advertiser: "I like the fact that I get full color and repeat of my TV Select ad in the regular Tuesday Daily News at NO EXTRA COST" Eric Hammond All Star Auto Recycling General Manager All Star 10 ACRES OF INVENTORY Used Parts for Less Quality Highway 99W & Capay Road (Halfway between Corning & Orland) 22521 Capay Rd. Corning CA. 96021 If you would like information on advertising in the Select TV Magazine, call Suzy Noble @ (530) 527-2151 ext. 103 WORLD BRIEFING sand bag barricades. Funding of $450 million has been put on hold for longer-term needs such as reconstruction of damaged roads, the official said. In addition, the agency has been able to reclaim unused money from past disasters, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing lack of authority to discuss the matter publicly. Libyan justice minister moves to abolish state security prosecution TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libya's transitional justice minister said Monday that he has approved a mea- sure to abolish the country's state security prosecution and courts, which sentenced opponents of the old regime to prison. At a press conference in Tripoli, Mohammed al-Alagi, part of Libya's new leadership after the ouster of Moammar Gadhafi, said he has signed a document to disband the bodies. The step still needs approval by the National Transitional Council that now runs the country. ''I am personally very happy to sign an approval to end the state security prosecution and court, and the state security appeals court,'' al- Alagi said. He said the document includes a request to abolish a third court for special cases where many opposition members were sentenced to life terms in prisons like Abu Salim in Tripoli, where inmates were massacred by Gadhafi's regime. Libyans are pressing forward with efforts to do away with some of the most hated remnants of the former regime even though fighting contin- ues and the ousted leader's where- abouts remains unknown. Afghan working at CIA office in Kabul kills a contractor working with US KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan working for the U.S. govern- ment killed a CIA contractor and wounded another American in an attack on the intelligence agency's office in Kabul, officials said Mon- day, making it the latest in a series of high-profile attacks this month on U.S. targets. The incident marked the most recent in a growing number of attacks this year by Afghans working with international forces in the country. Some assailants have turned out to be Taliban sleeper agents, while others have been motivated by personal grievances. The assailant in Sunday evening's shooting was killed, and it was not yet clear if he acted alone or if he belonged to an insurgent group. A U.S. official in Washington said the Afghan attacker was providing security to the CIA office and that the American who died was working as a contractor for the CIA. The official requested anonymity because he was speaking about intelligence matters. The CIA declined to comment. 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