UPDATE 2-U.S. lawmakers reach $19.1 bln disaster relief deal, no border aid

U.S. House of Representatives and Senate negotiators have reached a deal on a $19.1 billion disaster aid bill that has President Donald Trump's support, and which includes money for farmers, highways and hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, lawmakers from both parties said on Thursday. Republican Senator Richard Shelby said there could be a Senate vote on the legislation as early as Thursday, and Democrats said a House vote could soon follow. The measure is intended to help Americans rebound from a string of natural disasters over the past two years, from wildfires to floods, tornadoes and hurricanes.

The agreement does not include emergency funds to address a migrant surge at the southern U.S. border that Trump had requested earlier this month, senators said. But it does include hundreds of millions of dollars to keep helping the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which was devastated by a hurricane in 2017. Trump had opposed more aid for the island. "I had a nice conversation with the president about an hour or so ago," Shelby, chairman of the Senate appropriations committee, told reporters outside the Senate. "The president said okay."

Shelby said Republicans would push for separate approval of the border aid Trump wanted after lawmakers return from a recess next week, saying, "It's needed." A spokesman for House Appropriations Chair Nita Lowey, a Democrat, said she is pleased the bipartisan legislation "will meet urgent needs across the country."

"If the Senate passes the legislation today, House Democrats support clearing it through the House as soon as possible," Lowey's spokesman, Evan Hollander, said. The legislation includes disaster relief for farmers; development grants for rural communities; funds for wastewater infrastructure; and resources to restore highways, aviation facilities and other transit projects, Shelby's office said.

It also includes $600 million in nutrition assistance and $304 million in Community Development Block Grant funding for Puerto Rico sought by Democrats, as well as an extension of the National Flood Insurance Program, a statement said. Trump on May 1 requested $4.5 billion for programs that house, feed, transport and oversee the record number of Central American families seeking asylum at the southern border. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed openness to humanitarian border aid, but agreement eluded negotiators.

"Each time the president messes in, things get messed up," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told reporters, referring to weeks of criticism from Trump on the proposed aid for Puerto Rico and Trump's border aid request. "So I suggested this morning that we just do disaster aid and no border, and that's what we're doing. ... We got all we wanted for Puerto Rico."