Sandy relief money delayed by Congress

(WPRI) - After avoiding last night's vote on a measure to bring relief to areas hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy, House Speaker John Boehner has postponed it once again.

Lawmakers from areas along the East Coast are particularly frustrated, but confident that federal funding will soon be available.

According to Boehner, the vote was delayed to ease conservatives that are already antagonized over fiscal cliff negotiations.

Eyewitness News had a chance to talk with Representative David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island), who called the delay "disgraceful."

"I don't know what was in the Speaker's head, why he decided not to take the bill up, but I think we should have," he said.

Boehner promised to hold a vote before January 15th. In the meantime, the debt ceiling deadline is now less than 2 months away.