[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 16, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      PUERTO RICO DESERVES BETTER

  (Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico. Mr. Speaker, 4 months after 
Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, 40 percent of our people still lack 
electricity, with a system barely patched up. Of almost 80,000 homes 
approved to receive the temporary ``blue roof,'' only half of them have 
been installed.
  Those are only two examples. The hurricane season will be back in 5 
months, and then we will be required to start all over again. The 
situation demands extreme urgency from all Federal agencies.
  What is taking so long? Where is the sense of urgency?
  This would never be tolerated in any State.
  The provisions of the Stafford Act limit us to only patching things 
up. The supplemental disaster appropriations bill addressed this, but 
it is stalled in the Senate.
  We expect better. We deserve better. We will work to lift ourselves 
up, but we need the tools to do so. We expect the Federal agencies to 
act urgently.

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