Today the residents of New Jersey's 5th Congressional District got something concrete out of Gov. Christie's dumping NJN, the state's public-radio network, into WNYC: the closest thing to a debate in the race to represent us that we're likely to hear. WNYC's Brian Lehrer interviewed first Roy Cho, the Democratic challenger, and then Scott Garrett, Republican incumbent. Neither candidate performed perfectly, but only one campaign is calling attention to the show.
Cho's campaign is rightly celebrating how their candidate called Garrett out on his opposition to renewing the Violence Against Women Act and Garrett's Rick Perry moment when Lehrer asked him about it (from about 17:49 to the end). Garrett charged "Constitutional infirmities" in the bill, but couldn't or wouldn't say what those were.
What else was interesting was Garrett biting back at one of Cho's best criticisms, that he did not support New Jersey in demanding quick and thorough relief after Hurricane Sandy just two years ago. Garrett snapped that he couldn't sign onto a "feel-good letter" because he was too busy writing and shepherding through real legislation for real Sandy relief, "HR 41." According to the record at Congress.gov, this complex task resulted in a bill filed January 3, 2013, and signed into law, after what must have been a heckuva struggle, on January 6.
So what does this massive achievement represent? Brace yourself, and perhaps locate a legislative expert, because it's quite ... Well, here it is:
To temporarily increase the borrowing authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for carrying out the National Flood Insurance Program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. TEMPORARY INCREASE IN BORROWING AUTHORITY FOR NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM.
(a) Section 1309(a) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4016(a)) is amended by striking ``$20,725,000,000'' and inserting ``$30,425,000,000''.
(b) The amount provided by this section is designated by the Congress as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 403(a) of S. Con. Res. 13 (111th Congress), the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010, and as an emergency pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 933(g)).
Yep, that's it. FEMA could borrow an additional $9,700,000,000 to pay flood-insurance claims. Now, that is billions, and it does have the word "emergency" in there, even beyond the name of the agency. But does it strike anyone else as odd that this is Garrett's great claim to fame at the same time he's sending out mailers about red ink and running push polls on deficit spending?
If that's all Scott Garrett could do for the state and region in its moment of need, and especially since that was the only piece of legislation he got through the 113th Congress, I'd say it's time to retire to his farm. This job is just too much for him.