[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 94 (Wednesday, June 5, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E716]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING THE ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE WORKERS WHO HELPED RESTORE 
                       ELECTRICITY TO PUERTO RICO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RUBEN GALLEGO

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 5, 2019

  Mr. GALLEGO. Madam Speaker, it is my privilege to honor the service 
of dozens of Arizonans who worked around the clock to repair the Puerto 
Rican electrical grid in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. 
Their life-saving efforts helped restore food production, 
transportation, education, and health care services.
  In the fall of 2017, Irma and Maria struck Puerto Rico in quick 
succession, less than two weeks apart. A Category 4 storm, Maria's 155 
mph winds and rainfall compounded Irma's damage, and further devastated 
an island that is deeply vulnerable to the extremes of climate change. 
Flash floods and high winds damaged neighborhoods, houses, roads, 
schools, and businesses in a matter of mere hours. The storm also 
completely destroyed Puerto Rico's electric grid: 89 percent, or 2,100 
miles of the island's transmission lines, and 24,000 miles of 
distribution lines, were gone.
  This was the largest blackout in United States history. All 3.4 
million of our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico lost power, including 
those for whom access to electricity can make the difference between 
life and death. Thousands of citizens, for example, rely on electricity 
for essential medical needs--to power their respirators, refrigerate 
their insulin, and sustain their dialysis treatments.
  In the wake of Maria's landfall, with death tolls rising to 2,700, 
Puerto Ricans went to sleep each night in total darkness and 
uncertainty. This is why we recognize the commitment of the 83 Arizona 
Public Service line workers who, between January and March of 2018, 
traveled 3,000 miles from Arizona to Puerto Rico to rebuild and 
reenergize the island's electric grid. These Arizonans left their 
families for more than six weeks to work alongside new friends and 
fellow Americans in Puerto Rico. Together in partnership with Puerto 
Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and 12 other public power 
utilities, APS workers helped install 5,000 poles and 4,400 miles of 
wire, restoring power to 97 percent of the island's residents.
  I want to thank them for their service at a time of such dire need. 
As Puerto Ricans continue to rebuild after the hurricane, residents 
have rallied around the saying, ``Puerto Rico se levanta!''--Puerto 
Rico is rising again! But the APS line workers who served in Puerto 
Rico have demonstrated something more: ``Cuando Puerto Rico se levanta, 
el mundo se levanta tambien.'' When Puerto Rico rises, the rest of the 
world rises in tandem, alongside them.

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