Iowa Congressional Candidate Lange: No Federal Flood Funding for Cedar Rapids Until Balanced Budget

The Republican challenger for Iowa's 1st Congressional District told a group of Cedar Rapids Rotary Club members the city should not receive federal flood control funding until the budget is balanced.

Ben Lange said he understood the need for flood protection, but suggested that the government's debt is "the one single issue that drives me," according to KCRG.

"It's about putting in a priority of solving the overall national problems that could sink us all," he said Monday. "And then advocating for the interests that can help us here in Cedar Rapids."

Cedar Rapids is still recovering from the 2008 flood, which devestated the city. It caused more than $3 billion in damage, and the estimate is $5.74 billion to recover. 

He later agreed that deficit spending can be acceptable, but did not specify when.

Lange is running against incumbent Democrat Bruce Braley.

Braley's campaign responded with an email less than two and a half hours after KCRG's story was posted online.

Braley's campaign manager Jeff Giertz criticized Lange in a statemen  titled, "BREAKING: KCRG: Lange says Cedar Rapids Flood Protection Should Take a Backseat to Deficit"

“Protection from natural disasters shouldn’t be dictated by Washington politics, it should go to people who need help," he said in the news release.

Lange narrowly lost to Braley in the 2010 election, by a margin of approximately 4,000 votes.