Dear Speaker Boehner and Senate Minority Leader McConnell,

In a year marked by a record number of natural disasters, it’s shocking that you are threatening to hold federal disaster relief hostage unless further spending cuts are made elsewhere in the budget.

You and your fellow Republicans have been all too willing to run up unprecedentedly high bills for millionaires’ tax cuts and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but when it comes to actually protecting Americans at home, you throw up all sorts of roadblocks.

Over the past several months, we’ve seen an unusually high number of destructive floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and now, wildfires.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been on the ground to save lives and assist victims in many of these situations.

But now, FEMA’s funds are running dangerously low, forcing the agency to divert money from earlier relief efforts -- such as the rebuilding of Midwestern towns struck by deadly tornadoes -- to respond to Hurricane Irene’s aftermath.

Thank you,

Dick Durbin and undersigned

CC: House Republican Conference, Senate Republican Conference