[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 159 (Wednesday, September 26, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H8895]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 AFTERMATH OF HURRICANES IRMA AND MARIA

  (Ms. PLASKETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to talk about an important forum my 
colleagues and I will be hosting tomorrow.
  While this month of September marks the 1 year anniversary of 
Hurricanes Irma and Maria making landfall in the Virgin Islands as a 
Category 5 storm, the aftermath of the storm is still an everyday 
reality. According to the Hurricane Recovery and Resiliency Task Force 
report summary, total damage is estimated at $10.8 billion.
  Earlier this month, I visited local schools as they opened for the 
new school year, and the conditions are troubling. The Virgin Islands 
Board of Education reported a drop of almost 40 percent in student 
enrollment, and Puerto Rico's Department of Education closed 265 
schools last summer in the aftermath of the hurricanes.
  Only 19 of the 33 public schools throughout the territory reopened on 
time, and many of those are in no shape for learning: a lack of school 
supplies and classroom resources for students; students resorting to 
either standing or sitting on crates, floors, and desks; libraries with 
few or no books; and unfinished construction.
  Let's not be fooled, however. The level of damage to the schools in 
the Virgin Islands is due, in part, to the continual cuts over the 
years to the children of the Virgin Islands' education by funding from 
this body, the U.S. Congress.
  On Thursday, September 27, I and other congressional Democrats will 
host a forum to discuss the state of public education and related 
recovery efforts in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The forum's 
most important mission will be to discuss new ideas and plans to speed 
up the recovery process to place our schools in a better economic 
state. We must do better.

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