you can get more information by going to ccspan.org, and click n craig fugate as he defends the 2013 budget before the house hearing today. >>> and russell berman of the hill newspaper with this headline, speaker boehner to make a final plea to rally support for a $260 billion highway bill. the speaker in that last-minute pitch to rally the signatures around his transportation bill warning the rank and file republicans against so-called punting on the opportunity to pass an infrastructure bill that bears our stamp. the speaker made the pitch in a closed door conference here in washington where he and other party leaders implored a $260 billion bill that many in his caucus have opposed. he bluntly warned lawmakers to d today that a senate bill or something that looks just like it by the democrats according to the sources in the room. more from the senate side on this debate and here is senator harry reid, a democrat from nevada. >> madam president, we are disappointed as i said yesterday in not being able to invoke c e cloture on this highway bill and i was satisfied that the speaker

today we welcome the administrator of the federal emergency management agency, fema, craig fugate, to discuss his agencies budget request for fy 13. after the conclusion of the discussion with mr fugate, we'll convene an additional panel of speak holder organizations. stakeholder organizations. i'll make a brief opening statement and to allow time for members to ask questions and proceed with our second panel as well. administrator fugate, first of all, thank you for the work that you do and the hundreds of fema personnel that were deployed in my home state of alabama last april and beyond. and after the devastating tornados that impacted us. they are still this helping our communities pick up the pieces today and we very much appreciate all the work that fema and your agency has done. as recently as this past weekend, we saw devastation that was wrought by severe weather and we look to fema to assist our state and local responders as it is needed we thank you folks on the ground for all your hard work. before we begin i'll touch briefly on several issues which we'll discuss at length

questions to fema director craig fugate. the overall issue for the hearing, the appropriations process for fema for the next fiscal year. one part of that budget is the disaster relief fund. right now it's funded at about $6.1 billion. it's a decrease of about $987 million from this fiscal year. you can get more information on this by logging on to c-span.org and click on the box that includes craig fugate as he defended his budget before today's house hearing. this is "washington today." russell berman with this headline. speaker boehner making a final plea to rally support for a $260 billion highway bill. the house speaker in that last minute pitch to rally republicans around his signature transportation bill warning rank and file republicans against "punting on the opportunity to pass an infrastructure bill that bears our stamp." . the speaker made his speech today in washington where he and other party leaders implored conservative leaders to support a five-year, $260 billion highway bill that many in his caucus opposed.

but fema's craig fugate says his agency will not send checks for damaged or destroyed homes. >> we didind that the disaster information provided would suggest it exceeded the state's capabilities. >> fema considered private insurance coverage in the area, alternate housing and available rental units in determining that illinois could handle the mess by itself. but when illinois learned that indiana's aid application, which claimed more than $25 million in damages from storms in the last couple of weeks, had been approved by fema, senator dick durbin and others were outraged. >> to think that these local communities are our state can take care of this is naive. >> fema said denied applications are not unprecedented. last year, minnesota's request after storms and tornadoes was also rejected. >> turning down a disaster is never easy. we know there's real people and homes damaged. this is not about the people. this is really about in looking at the impacts of the state. >> illinois is appealing the decision. its congressional delegation and governor quinn will be meeting with fema officia

he told craig fugate there are a number of

but fema's craig fugate said his agency will not be sending checks for damaged or destroyed homes. >> find the disa disaster information provided would suggest it exceeded the state's state's capabilities. >> reporter: fema considered priv private insurance coverage in the area, alternate housing and available rental units in determining that illinois could handle the mess by itself. but when illinois learned that indiana's aid application, which claimed more than 25 million dollars in damages from storms in the last couple of weeks, had been approved by fema, senator dick durbin and others were outraged. >> to think that these local communities or a state with its own budget problems can take care of this is just naive. >> reporter: fema said denys applications are not unprecedented. last year's minnesota's request after storms and tornadoes was also rejected. >> turning down a disaster is never easy. we know there's real people and real homes that have been impacted. this is not about the individual or the family. this is really about looking at the impact to the state. >> reporter:

representatives met this morning on capitol hill with federal emergency management agency administrator craig fugate dick durbin called for the meeting after fema announced sunday that federal assistance to five southern illinois counties devastated by severe storms and tornadoes would be denied in order to discuss the state's appeal to that decision seven people were killed when the storms and tornadoes ripped through the city of harrisburg last month both senators and the governor have criticized the fema decision the chicago bears revealed today that it knew that brandon marshall was in trouble with the law before acquired him the bears picked him up in a trade with the miami dolphins the general manager phil emery said he went ahead with that deal even though he is accused of punching a woman outside a club over the weekend ray emery said that he has high hopes for brandon martial who was arrested twice for suspicion of domestic violence >>the bulls guard derrick rose is ok after his car was rearended on the kennedy expressway it happened on the southbound kennedy expressway near the ogden exit

today we welcome the administrator of fema, craig fugate, to discuss his agency's budget request for fy-13. after the conclusion of discussion with administrator few gate, we'll convene an additional panel of stakeholder organizations. i'm going to make a brief opening statement in order to allow her time for members to ask -- more time for members to ask questions. administrator fugate, first of all, thank you for the work that you do and hundreds of fema personnel who were deployed in my home state of alabama last april and beyond and after the devastating tornadoes that impacted us. they are still there helping our communities pick up the pieces today, and we very much appreciate all the work that fema and your agency has done. as recently as this past weekend, we again saw devastation that was wrought by severe weather. and once again thank you that dedicated folks are on the ground and for all their hard work. before we begin, i will touch briefly on several issues which we'll discuss at length later in the hearing. with respect to disaster funding, we want to know will the disa

craig fugate defended the decision. >> it has to do with the state of a whole, not the proximity of thewe look at how much was insured. >> illinois governor and senators are among those flabbergasted and outraged. >> i can't believe it. i was there over a week ago and saw it firsthand. i have never seen worse tornado damage. >> access means residents get low interest loans and grants to rebuild. the delegation requested a meeting with fema's administrator and written a letter asking the president to overturn the agency's decision. jay carney says the criteria is the same for all states asking for assistance. >> the same question has the where with all to handle storm recovery on its own. fema has a lot of regional offices, a lot of presence on the ground in these affected states. the evaluation process continues. >> for these illinois families, adding to the heart break, new headaches as they look to start over. illinois governor pat quinn contacted the department of homeland security and informed janet napolitano they will appeal. it's surprising to know it's not the dollar cost of dam

first, from washington, i'm joined by the head of the federal emergency management agen agency, craig fugate. >> good afternoon. >> can you tell me what you can do for the city of harrisburg? >> right now the officials are still focused on the initial response and starting to do the assessments. as we work with the states to decide what assistance needs to help the recover, it can be disaster loans and joining them to do disaster assessments. >> at what point do you jump in with assistance? >> when the state tells us they need us. we were contacted yesterday and i think with these tornadoes, as devastating as they are in the communities, in the cases of all of the states, they were able to meet the response needs and focus on that part of the response. we've been in contact. we've been able to keep up to date with the states. when they request us, we're able to go. but the good news story is, as strategic as they are, they are managing the response and did not require federal assistance for that and so the question is, what will be needed for recovery operations. >> you know, as we look at t

. >> fema director, craig fugate, thanks for spending time with us. >> thank you. >>> front-page politics now. a new reaction from the gop presidential candidates on the controversial birth control comments by rush limbaugh. limbaugh used a derogatory term to describe sandra flock. she talked about the importance of companies, including those with religious affiliations, providing coverage. flock said president obama called her. >> he encouraged me and supported me and thanked me for speaking out about the concerns of american women and what was -- what was really personal for me was that he said to tell my parents that they should be proud, and that meant a lot because rush limbaugh questioned whether or not my family would be proud of me. >> late yesterday, we heard the first response from the gop front-runners mitt romney and rick santorum. take a listen. >> it's not the language i would have used. i'm focusing on the issues that i think are significant in the country today and that's why i'm here talking about jobs in ohio. >> well, that was mitt romney. we should have rec santorum. h

they also met with craig fugate, the administrator of the federal emergency management agency, talkedfederal government can supply they haven't yet or is that moving forward in a fashionable manner? >> no, very much so, got calls from the president and secretary napolitano as i was moving around southern indiana yet and i appreciate their help, and the honest truth, there is not much they can do the first few days, it falls on the state and the local level. but by and by we'll tally the damages and make amp dagpplicat for the support of our fellow taxpayers in other places and it is clear the federal government is ready to provide that under the laws we have, in due course. >> alisyn: one thing we're left scratching our heads when we look at these pictures on the other side of the screen from you, where do you begin? what happens this morning, how do you get people back to life as they flew it in indiana. >> these situations are tough and so are hoosiers and i've had far too much practice at this i regret to say, but what you will see in our state, homes are already being put back tog