[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 158 (Tuesday, October 3, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S6269]
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 another matter, the crisis in Puerto Rico and the 
U.S. Virgin Islands, today, President Trump will be visiting Puerto 
Rico nearly 2 weeks after Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico. 
In my view, the lateness of his visit is indicative of his leadership 
and the Federal response to this humanitarian crisis. It has been slow, 
it hasn't been well coordinated or sure-footed, and it has been too 
late in coming.
  President Obama visited Sandy two days after the storms hit. 
President Trump himself was much quicker to visit Texas when Harvey 
hit. Two weeks is too long. It is better than nothing. That is for 
sure. But it is too long. It sends a signal that maybe he believes what 
happened in Puerto Rico is less important than what happened in Texas 
or in Florida.
  In the lead-up to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, President Trump was 
tweeting on an almost daily basis, prevailing on Texans and Floridians 
to stay safe from the storm. That was the right thing to do. But when 
it came to Puerto Rico, there were no tweets or public statements in 
the lead-up to the storm, and it took several days to even mention 
Puerto Rico in his tweets. Even then, he had mostly blame for Puerto 
Rico or pats on the back for his own administration. He kept decrying 
fake news, but he couldn't fool the American people. They saw on TV 
what was happening and the devastation that stayed for so long.
  Let me give a comparison. The President said that, because it is an 
island, it is harder to get to. It is, but when Haiti was struck by a 
massive earthquake in 2010, the United States didn't wait for things to 
get worse. We ramped up military and disaster assistance quickly and 
responded with an overwhelming amount of support. Within 2 days of the 
earthquake in Haiti, 8,000 troops were in route. Within 2 weeks, 22,000 
troops were in route with 300 helicopters assisting relief efforts. 
Even to this moment, the number for Puerto Rico is much smaller. That 
shows that the response has not been good enough. Why was his response 
for Puerto Rico so much less than the response for Haiti?
  So we need a much better response on the ground in Puerto Rico and 
the Virgin Islands. I would say to President Trump, I am glad you are 
going--glad you are going--but this is your chance to make up for what 
has been a plodding start.
  When the President visits Puerto Rico today, he should not get into 
any political fights or blame Puerto Rico for its problems. The 
President needs to figure out what is wrong and what else has to be 
done and marshal the resources of our government and our military to 
fix it. The 3.5 million American citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. 
Virgin Islands are counting on their President. These are American 
citizens.