Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Bob Menendez
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the highest-ranking Latino in Congress, today joined a bicameral group of lawmakers to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Maria’s landfall in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and called on the Biden Administration to ensure there is a whole of government effort in response to the devastation following the landfall of Category 1 Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico.
“[This] is about the United States of America. It is about 3.2 million United States citizens who get treated differently than if they were on the mainland of the United States and that is unacceptable. It is unacceptable. It is un-American,” said Sen. Menendez. “Puerto Ricans put on the uniform of the United States and have served in every conflict in its history. The most decorated military unit, the Borinqueneers, actually got a Congressional Gold Medal. But, a gold medal means nothing if you don’t treat your fellow citizens in a way that has dignity and respect.”
[CLICK HERE FOR THE SENATOR’S REMARKS]
“Five years ago, I had a bipartisan CODEL to Puerto Rico to assess the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, and unfortunately the Trump Administration canceled my military plane… thinking somehow I wouldn’t go. I got myself on a relief flight and I showed up in Puerto Rico,” added Sen. Menendez. “I still have the images today. I keep them on my phone. Hundreds of images of communities devastated, bridges washed out, homes destroyed. It reminds me every day.”
“While this was supposed to be a commemoration, it actually is another call to action. But this time in addition to supporting, I am organizing an effort to send a clear message to the Administration to support a major disaster declaration when the Governor of Puerto Rico submits it, and I believe the Biden Administration will do that. It has already shown its willingness to support Puerto Ricans in tangible ways not with paper towels. They need our support, and they need it now. They need Congress to exercise its oversight [because] it doesn’t matter that [we] appropriate disaster money if it doesn’t end up going to the people of Puerto Rico. It doesn’t [matter if we don’t] create an energy grid that is resilient, so that whenever the next hurricane or natural disaster comes the lights stay on…The federal government has got to get its act together, and the government of Puerto Rico has to exercise efforts over those energy entities [on the island] to ensure relief for the Puerto Rican people. This is an all hands on deck [effort]…,” concluded Sen. Menendez.
Sen. Menendez visited Puerto Rico in 2017, to survey the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria and continually fought to hold Trump Administration officials accountable for botched recovery efforts. The Senator led efforts to extend a foreclosure moratorium for FHA insured mortgages in Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, which would have put struggling families at risk of homelessness, and held FEMA accountable for cutting off federal assistance for debris removal and emergency protective measures in Puerto Rico. In 2019, Sen. Menendez and his colleagues also called on the inspector general to review FEMA’s faltering efforts to rebuild Vieques’ health care facility divested by Hurricane Maria, and last year reintroduced legislation to ensure Vieques receives the federal assistance needed to help it rebuild.
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