[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 2 (Thursday, January 4, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S30-S31]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Puerto Rico Recovery Effort

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I am here to talk about our fellow 
Americans in Puerto Rico. Even as the Northeast is gripped by a storm 
of impressive proportions, Puerto Rico is still recovering from the 
hurricane that hit that island 106 days ago.
  I visited Puerto Rico with my friend and colleague, Senator Murphy, 
yesterday and the day before, to bring back to my colleagues a fact-
based report on how the recovery effort is going and how ample Federal 
support has been.
  I come to the floor today furious and frustrated. The people of 
Puerto Rico have a right to be furious, as well, because they have been 
denied the basic help and relief that this great Nation--the greatest 
in the history of the world--owes to all Americans.
  Let there be no doubt that the people of Puerto Rico are our fellow 
Americans. They have fought in our wars. They have come to the mainland 
and gone back, contributing to our communities, as well as theirs.
  They are in our communities in Connecticut, which has the highest 
concentration of people from Puerto Rico and their descendants of any 
State in the country. We are proud of the Puerto Ricans in Connecticut 
and of the Puerto Rican families and people who are coming from the 
mainland in an exodus unmatched in recent history.
  The reason for that out-migration is that Puerto Rico is in the midst 
of a humanitarian and economic crisis. Let me repeat that. Puerto Rico 
is in a humanitarian and economic crisis 106 days after Hurricane 
Maria.
  It is still in triage. Half of the population lacks reliable 
electricity. Almost half lacks drinkable, healthy water. The tourist 
industry--the lifeblood of its economy--is shrinking and struggling. 
About half the hotels still are not open, and the unemployment rate is 
well above 10 percent--double the rate of unemployment here on the 
mainland. Housing continues to be a major problem. Of the homes that 
need temporary relief, only half of them have been provided the blue 
tarps because they have not been delivered.

  I want to pay tribute to the first responders, the Corps of 
Engineers, and FEMA workers, as well as the National Guard from 
Connecticut and elsewhere who are on the ground serving and sacrificing 
for their fellow American. They lack the support they need in resources 
and commitment from the administration and from this Congress. 
Resources and support have been denied them because of a lack of will, 
not a lack of money.
  Many of the schools there are shuttered, and students have been 
denied the privilege to continue their education. The healthcare system 
of the island is still in shambles. Primary care is struggling to 
recover because of the lack of electricity. A doctor's office simply 
cannot run without electricity, nor can manufacturing plants be 
operated without a reliable source of power.
  In restoring power, the Corps of Engineers has provided generators in 
places where formerly there were plants actually producing power. 
Generators are a temporary source of power, not a reliable permanent 
source. Transmission is still down in many parts of the country.
  To add insult to injury, Puerto Rico is stuck with a tax as a result 
of the action of this Congress and the administration--a tax imposed 
only on manufacturing in foreign countries. Puerto Rico is treated as a 
foreign country for purposes of the 12.5 percent tax on certain 
manufacturers. That is simply unconscionable. Manufacturing plants will 
soon be facing the decision of whether to stay or go, and many of them 
will go, adding to the unemployment situation there.
  It is heartbreaking and gut-wrenching to visit this island and to 
walk in a neighborhood, as Senator Murphy and I did on Wednesday night, 
and find darkness after the sun goes down--total darkness, except for a 
few isolated lights here and there. How can students study? How can 
parents care for children?
  On that Tuesday night, we walked through a neighborhood in downtown 
San Juan that was dark because of the lack of electricity. There simply 
are not enough generators for every home to have one. Generators, 
themselves, are only a stopgap source of power.
  The human faces and voices are gripping and riveting from the 
suffering

[[Page S31]]

that people in Puerto Rico--our fellow Americans--still endure. The 
lack of Federal commitment and response is shameful and disgraceful.
  There are steps that we must take immediately. In the short-term 
relief package that is coming to us from the House of Representatives, 
we must make sure that some of that aid--a significant proportion--is 
specifically targeted to Puerto Rico. The number requested by the 
Governor is $94 billion. It is a number that is fully and amply 
supported by fact. The total package coming from the House is only $81 
billion, and it is supposed to cover expenses in Florida and Texas as 
well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. So that number has to be 
vastly increased. Longer term, there must be a change in the Tax Code 
to eliminate that 12.5 or 13 percent tax that discriminates against 
Puerto Rico as if it were a foreign country and as if the residents in 
Puerto Rico were citizens of another country. They are Americans.
  The Medicaid formula must be changed so that it is fair to Puerto 
Rico. The 20 percent commitment that now goes to Puerto Rico, unlike 
other States, must be increased so as to treat Puerto Rico, in fact, as 
if it were a State and so that it is given an adequate match.
  These kinds of commonsense steps must be the beginning of more than 
just repair and more than just rebuilding. It must be a full recovery 
with a vision for the future.
  I have proposed, with Senator Sanders and others of our colleagues, a 
Marshall Plan for Puerto Rico. That is the kind of commitment that is 
necessary. The $150 billion includes not only the $94 billion that is 
necessary to repair and recover right away but a longer term plan to 
enable the island to be back on its feet financially, to recover from 
the near bankruptcy that it is enduring, to able its institutions to 
function fully, and to permit its healthcare system to rely on 
electricity from plants that are powered in an economic and 
environmentally friendly way.
  There is, sadly, the hint also of potential corruption in the 
Whitefish contract that now has been withdrawn and in the Bronze Star 
contract for tarps that is under review. Investigations must be 
concluded quickly and thoroughly so that we are assured that Federal 
dollars are being used honestly and effectively.
  We must make a commitment to use the island's natural advantages. 
Electricity is essential. It is not a luxury, not a convenience. It is 
vital. It is the lifeblood of that island economically and humanly. One 
of the island's great advantages is its sunlight. Solar has to be used 
more effectively and widely as a source of power.
  My hope is that we can make this disaster relief program a Marshall 
Plan-like program for the island in the long term with bipartisan 
support.
  There is nothing political about a neighborhood in darkness, about 
children unable to go to school, about health facilities closed, 
electricity lacking, and water undrinkable. These are basic needs that 
we have an obligation to come together on both sides of the aisle and 
meet.
  I hope that we will do so and that we will match the resilience and 
resolve that I saw in meeting with Governor Rossello and all of his 
team. The island's residents and FEMA and other Federal workers were 
also there.
  Governor Rossello has provided the kind of courage and commitment 
that are necessary to lead his people in this time of challenge. We 
must match the courage and strength of the residents on the island with 
equal resolve here that we will meet the needs of our fellow Americans 
and that we will keep our commitment, as we do always in times of 
crisis, to rebuild and to recommit and make sure that we leave no one 
there behind.

  I am proud that we are working with Governor Rossello. After meeting 
with him yesterday and after meeting with him in the wake of the 
hurricane when I first visited--I had the privilege of flying over the 
island, and I saw the devastation, with whole villages destroyed, 
houses and community centers completely razed--progress has been made. 
Governor Rossello is to be commended for his continuing perseverance, 
as well as the people of Puerto Rico in their resolve and resilience, 
but we must now do our part and match that resilience and resolve with 
a true commitment that we will leave no American behind and keep faith 
with the people of Puerto Rico.
  I am proud that many in the Puerto Rican community in Connecticut 
have shared their stories with me, and I look forward to returning to 
them this weekend and sharing my stories with them of their families 
and their friends on that island.
  It is a beautiful island that has such great promise and so embodies 
the future of our Nation in its patriotism and its dedication to the 
ideals of America.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Wyoming.