I’m waiting anxiously to hear if any members of Congress, those who comprise the tea party wing of the Republican Party, gnash their teeth over whether to send federal assistance – in the form of money – to West, Texas, the town ravaged by that horrific fertilizer plant explosion this past week.

It was the other great tragedy that fell on a nation that was riveted mostly on Boston and the manhunt for the two men suspected of that hideous act of terror. As President Obama said, “This has been a tough week.”

But out here in West, 14 people were killed, many more were injured and even more were made homeless by that ghastly explosion. The mushroom cloud rising over the town near Waco could be seen in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, nearly 100 miles away.

Take a look at these pictures.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/04/21/4791152/memorial-service-set-for-first.html

But we’ve witnessed some odd resistance to rushing federal aid to communities hit by disaster. Joplin, Mo., was all but leveled by a tornado in 2011 and some congressional hotshots – such as House Republican Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia – balked at sending aid to Joplin until Congress could cut spending in other programs to pay for it. Then came the ridiculous resistance to sending aid to victims of Hurricane/Super Storm Sandy that pummeled New Jersey and New York in 2012; again, the resistance came mostly from the tea party faithful.

Texas has just elected another tea party favorite to the Senate, Republican Ted Cruz, who joins fellow Republican John Cornyn in Congress’s upper chamber. This is just a hunch, but I’m betting they won’t resist federal help if and when it is offered.

President Obama took note of the West disaster while thanking law enforcement for the fine job it did in apprehending the surviving suspect in the Boston bombing. “I’ve spoken to Gov. (Rick) Perry,” Obama said in assuring Texans that the federal government won’t forget the suffering being felt at this moment in that tiny community.

My advice to Sens. Cruz and Cornyn would be for them tell their tea party allies on Capitol Hill to keep their traps shut when the time comes to send federal aid to Texas.