"My heart goes out" to residents of the stricken area, said Lee, a tea party favorite elected in 2010. But he added, "We have to stop and consider the fact that we are more than $16 trillion in debt and that we're adding to that debt at a rate of more than $1 trillion every year."

The Senate approved a $60 billion aid package for the hard-hit region in late December. But House Speaker John Boehner scrapped a vote on the bill before the clock ran out on the last Congress on January 1, leading to howls of outrage from residents and officials in New York and New Jersey.

"We have never had a natural disaster before where Congress walked away," thundered Rep. Peter King, a Republican from Long Island.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Brooklyn and lower Manhattan, called it "a total collapse of leadership on the part of Speaker Boehner."

And New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the keynote speaker at last year's GOP convention, said the move explained "why the American people hate Congress."

Chastened House leaders quickly scheduled new votes, passing $9 billion to bolster the federal flood insurance program in the first week of January and voting 241-180 to approve another $50 billion on January 15.

Most Republicans voted against the second bill, complaining that the spending should have been offset by cuts elsewhere.

The Senate also passed the flood insurance bill, which was signed by President Barack Obama in early January.