Despite passionate appeals for help on the House floor today, lawmakers from the Northeast are still not sure how much Superstorm Sandy aid their colleagues will approve later this evening.

Members are considering a supplemental measure that splits $50 billion for Sandy relief into two accounts. Debate is under way on the House floor.

A proposal consisting of $17 billion, offered by Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), will become the base of the bill if it garners sufficient backing from lawmakers. That portion includes mostly emergency funds, and only if it is approved, the House will then consider an amendment that would add $33 billion in additional aid for New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and federal agencies.

The latter proposal, sponsored by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), has drawn significant opposition from fiscally conservative Republicans, fracturing already fragile support for the overall disaster measure.

The same group of fiscally minded Republicans are pushing to amend Rogers' $17 billion proposal to require it to be offset with money from other agencies. Other lawmakers and the White House remind them previous disasters were not offset by Congress.

In addition to the offset amendment, offered by Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), House leaders will allow votes on 11 other amendments, many of which would reduce specific funding allocations.

These include an amendment by Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas) that would cut $150 million for Regional Ocean Partnership grants to coastal states; an amendment by Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) that would remove $13 million to accelerate a National Weather Service readiness project; and an amendment by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) to remove from the bill a provision that would provide $1 million to the Legal Services Corp. to pay certain costs related to the superstorm.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and other proponents of the broader bill said the adoption of these amendments could make it harder to advance the emergency aid.

On the floor today, representatives from New York, New Jersey and other areas hit by the storm last fall urged colleagues to hurry up and back the $50 billion supplemental.

"Disaster means disaster, and emergency means emergency. We can say let's wait, let's do something differently, but we were there for you. We were there, Florida, when you had your hurricane. And God bless you if you think you're not going to have another hurricane," said Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.). "We need this, and we need this now."

Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole and Rules Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) repeatedly countered that the House did not delay on this issue.

"I think we're trying to do it right," Sessions said. "The speaker, John Boehner, cares deeply about this country."

A vote on the amendments and final passage is expected this evening. Senate leaders have indicated they will hold a vote early next week on the House version.

Climate change

Meanwhile, a few Democrats speaking on the floor today said the superstorm is more evidence that human behavior is affecting the Earth's climate. "Our inabilities to deal with it -- there will be more and more disasters," said New York's Rep. Louise Slaughter, the ranking Democrat on the Rules panel.

Although watchdog groups are criticizing funding proposals for myriad programs aimed at improving infrastructure and transit services, other groups note the superstorm revealed the country's neglect of its roads and transportation corridors.

"One of the harshest lessons of Hurricane Sandy was that it exposed the terrible deficits in our nation's infrastructure and the vulnerability of millions of people in the face of climate change," BlueGreen Alliance Executive Director David Foster said in a statement today.

National Wildlife Federation Vice President John Kostyack added the money would help coastal areas rebuild in "a smarter way."

"We have an opportunity to build more resilient buildings and transportation and energy systems," he said. "Using these natural defenses is oftentimes far more cost-effective than relying on hard structures and provide the additional benefit of serving as important fish and wildlife habitat."