[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 156 (Thursday, September 28, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S6195]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



          Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Recovery Effort

  Mr. President, on Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, we know 
about the crisis. Just looking at the pictures breaks your heart. We 
hear the stories of people desperately needing their medicine and 
diabetics needing insulin, which can't be refrigerated because there is 
no electricity to keep the refrigeration going. There are people dying 
right now because they can't get the medical attention they need, and, 
of course, there is a need for food, water, power, and transportation. 
It is awful.
  Yesterday, Leader Pelosi and I met with Gen. Lori Robinson. It felt 
nice, amid this devastation, to see a woman have four stars on her 
shoulder. She is a four-star general in the Air Force, and she is head 
of the U.S. Northern Command. She is the military person in charge.
  We met with her to get an update on the Department of Defense's work 
in assisting the islands. It was evident from our conversation that, 
while the military is increasing the amount of resources it is sending 
to the island, there is a lack of command and control about how those 
resources are distributed. In other words, they probably have enough 
food, they probably have enough gasoline--that is what the Governor of 
Puerto Rico said today--but they can't get it to the places it needs to 
go. Part of it is because they need transportation--trucks and things--
but a lot of it is because there is no one there to make sure. Puerto 
Rico's command and control has been decimated by this storm as well. 
People can't get to the places they are supposed to go. They don't have 
their phones, et cetera.
  I spoke with Senator Rubio this morning in the gym as well. He had 
just recently visited Puerto Rico. He had seen the devastation 
firsthand, and he told me the same--that Puerto Rico and the Virgin 
Islands are struggling, and they need help fast. His visit to Puerto 
Rico confirmed this idea that we really need command and control.
  Well, there is no better command and control organization than our 
military, and we need our military to start aiding Puerto Rico in the 
command and control sense, as well as in the shipping of supplies, 
food, and the other kinds of things they need.
  Puerto Rico needs help fast. They need personnel to direct the 
supplies and resources on the ground. All the aid in the world will be 
ineffective if it doesn't go where it is needed to go. So I joined 
Senator Cantwell, the ranking member on the Energy Committee, which has 
jurisdiction in many ways here, and Senator Nelson, who cares a great 
deal about Puerto Rico and is from Florida, nearby, and 30 other 
Senators in sending a letter to the Trump administration that contains 
a list of needed resources and personnel to coordinate our relief 
efforts.
  It appears there will not be a request for emergency supplemental 
appropriations this week. We hope it comes very soon.
  Mr. President, we cannot forget the utter devastation facing the 3.5 
million American citizens in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. I have 
been on this Earth now for quite a few years, and I have never seen 
such devastation anywhere in the United States or its territories. So 
we need to act, and we need to act quickly. Command and control, which 
our military can help supply, should be at the top of the list.