JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – North Carolina lawmakers weigh in as the disaster relief bill is blocked in the U.S. House. 

• The $19.1 billion bill would bring needed, long-term recovery money to eastern NC.
• The bill stalled in the U.S. House until at least next Tuesday.
• Command at Camp Lejune says they need about $3.4 billion to get back to normal following Florence.

The bipartisan $19.1 billion disaster aid bill, which passed in the Senate Thursday, would bring needed long-term recovery money to eastern North Carolina.

After months of negotiations, the bill stalled in the U.S. House until at least next Tuesday – or even early June.

North Carolina Senators Thom Tillis and Richard Burr spent Friday afternoon at Camp Lejune getting a look at damage from Hurricane Florence. Command at Camp Lejune says they need about $3.4 billion to get back to normal following Florence.

The amount includes not just clean-up, but construction projects for 70-year-old buildings that have been planned for years.

If passed, the disaster relief bill would provide payment to the base in installments. A little less than $400 million would be immediately paid and another $900 million would be paid at the end of August or in early September.

“What I always find interesting is people who will pound the table for disaster recovery when their state is affected, but then tend to oppose it. The reality is we have disasters all over the United States. This is when we need to set politics, or some sort of ideological purist ideals, aside and get relief to the men and women who need it, particularly when we're talking about men and women in the marines,” said Senator Thom Tillis.

Senator Tillis says the second installment needs to come in late August, and no later than September.

Governor Roy Cooper also expressed his disappointment with the stalling of the aid.

“I’m disappointed North Carolinians continue to wait for much-needed relief…and I urge the house to swiftly pass this legislation, as soon as possible,” Governor Cooper said in a statement.