Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskillcalls comments by the number two Republican in the House about the disaster relief funds for Joplin "wildly inappropriate."
House Major Leader Eric Cantor, a Republican from Virginia, said Monday that if Congress passes an emergency spending bill to help the tornado victims, money will have to be cut from somewhere else.
McCaskill says disaster relief is an important federal function.
“I would like to venture a guess that if Eric Cantor had the kind of destruction in his congressional district that the people of Joplin have endured over the last few days that he would not have the nerve to say that money for Joplin would only come at the expense of another program," said McCaskill.
On CNN yesterday, Missouri's Republican Senator Roy Blunt, insisted that providing disaster relief for Joplin is a priority.
Sunday's tornado has killed at least 123 people and damaged 8,000 structures.