[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 79 (Monday, May 13, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S2778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Puerto Rico

  Madam President, finally, on disaster relief, last week, our 
colleagues in the House passed yet another bill that would provide 
crucial aid for disaster-stricken communities, including for our fellow 
citizens in Puerto Rico who are still suffering. Importantly, the bill 
passed with 34 Republicans voting in favor.
  Negotiations on a disaster package continue, but I believe the House 
vote is a sign that the Republicans in both Chambers are beginning to 
realize the people of Puerto Rico cannot be left behind--and rightly 
so. There will not be any bill if it doesn't treat all of America 
fairly.
  Don't complain just about your State. Go to those in the Republican 
leadership, if you are a Republican Senator, and tell them we must pass 
a bill that protects everybody.
  The President's animus for the people of Puerto Rico is antithetical 
to our values as Americans. Americans help each other in times of need. 
We wouldn't shortchange the farmers in Iowa or the people of Texas or 
California or Florida. So why should we ask 3 million fellow citizens--
the people of Puerto Rico, I remind my colleagues, who are U.S. 
citizens--to keep waiting for help to rebuild from a storm that made 
landfall over a year and a half ago? The bottom line is very simple: We 
have to help everybody.
  Our Republican colleagues are beginning to realize their constituents 
are complaining and asking, what is the holdup? We all know the story. 
It wasn't the original idea of the Republicans in the Senate to treat 
Puerto Rico unfairly. President Trump came to a lunch and demanded that 
aid for Puerto Rico be eliminated or greatly diminished, and our 
Republican friends went along. They thought we would just bow down as 
they did, and we have not neither in the House nor in the Senate.
  Now let's get moving. It is encouraging that the Republicans are 
beginning to realize that Puerto Rico needs help or that it at least 
has to be a part of the aid package. I hope these green shoots soon 
bear fruit, and we can send something to the President's desk and give 
relief to all of those who need it in California, Texas, Iowa, 
Nebraska, Alabama, Florida, and Puerto Rico.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.