WASHINGTON -- The House acted Thursday to give people thrown out of work by hurricanes Katrina and Rita an extra 13 weeks of disaster unemployment benefits.
House lawmakers passed the bill as a bipartisan group headed to the Gulf Coast to inspect ongoing cleanup and rebuilding efforts. The delegation also plans to study the effectiveness of recovery aid.
The bill extends unemployment benefits scheduled to end on Saturday for 165,000 people who wouldn't otherwise qualify for the assistance. The measure still needs Senate approval.
"Unfortunately, the economy in the Gulf Coast area remains devastated, and reemployment opportunities are greatly limited," said Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa.
One lawmaker, Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, opposed the extension, arguing that lawmakers should reassess their spending in the region.
Neugebauer said voters "see that we're spending billions and billions and billions of dollars, yet we're getting reports of mismanagement almost at every level of government."
The bipartisan delegation, led by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., plans to take a look at federal spending during their three-day visit to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., said she was amazed that anyone would oppose extending unemployment benefits.
"We are throwing money at a problem?" she said. "We are giving unemployment benefits to people looking for work and have no other means because Mother Nature has taken their means from them."
The Federal Communications Commission, separately, extended for three months a program that lets displaced Gulf Coast residents qualify for free wireless telephone service.
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