[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 157 (Wednesday, September 28, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H8125]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     DISASTER RELIEF IN PUERTO RICO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon) for 5 minutes.
  Miss GONZALEZ-COLON. Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, we were 
thinking about the 5 years since Hurricane Maria, and 5 years felt like 
nothing. Maria was one of our greatest natural disasters, causing 
collapse of all of the essential infrastructure in Puerto Rico. We 
still see the effects linger.
  My colleagues in Congress came with me to the Island and responded 
with funding for recovery. Staff from FEMA and other agencies have been 
working hard, but the effects have been slow to be seen. Major 
obligations for permanent infrastructure rebuilding began only in late 
2020.
  Meanwhile, challenges continued: Earthquakes, COVID, supply chain 
crisis, a power grid that remains unreliable, uncertainty about the 
continuity of Medicaid and nutritional assistance funds. The people 
were exhausted and stressed.
  Then came Hurricane Fiona. Fiona did not bring Category 4 or Category 
5 winds but, instead, rainfall like never before, up to 30 inches in 
some locations. It was raining 2 days before the hurricane and 2 days 
after the hurricane.
  Fiona caused a lot of flooding. It was historic and, in many places 
in the south of the Island, and the West, and the central mountains, 
beyond what was experienced for Maria. Thousands of families needed to 
be moved from flood waters in places like Salinas, leaving behind 
everything.
  In rural areas like Arecibo, San Lorenzo, Orocovis, Utuado, 
Barranquitas, bridges that had been repaired or replaced after Maria, 
and roads that had been cleared and repaved, are again washed out, 
damaged, and blocked by landslides.
  Housing and transportation work done after the last disaster, some 
even barely finished, now needs to be addressed again.
  The power system again fell into a blackout. Although a majority is 
back up, it is still shaky. More than 70 percent of the Island now has 
power. Plants at Aguirre and Costa Sur are running available units at 
the edge of capacity; distribution networks at Aguadilla, San 
Sebastian, and Bayamon needed to be attended by local governments. This 
slow-down recovery of the water system is a problem for citizens 
needing life support devices, and keeps businesses closed.
  Although there are sufficient fuel and supplies in the depots, 
communities have difficulty receiving enough because of transportation 
problems at a time of increased demand.
  The agricultural sector, that was expecting finally the first normal 
productive year after devastation of Maria, lost everything again. We 
lost 90 percent of our agriculture in plantains, bananas, and many 
others; back to square one. Across the land, in Lares, Patillas, 
Aibonito, Guanica, mostly small or family farms now are at risk of 
simply never coming back; a lot from damage, and others from 
heartbreak.
  Our low-income families face faster depletion of the funds for 
Medicaid and for nutritional assistance programs. It is not just a 
matter of more eligibility but continuity of the funding.
  A real answer to this would be true permanent equal treatment for 
Puerto Rico in these Federal programs, instead of a special provision 
over and over every year.
  I have engaged the President and many Federal agencies on this and 
other issues, to seek the needed support for the Island at this moment.
  Some Members of Congress, of this House, are traveling to Puerto Rico 
after Fiona, and I am, again, inviting all my colleagues who want to 
come and join me to see the need directly and hear from those who can 
tell you what is really happening.
  Today, we watch Florida also face a major disaster, and knowing 
firsthand what that means, I keep the people of Florida in my heart. 
Take care, and God bless and keep you in this time.
  I am sure that both Florida and Puerto Rico, we will come back from 
this disaster, and, as Americans, we must all stand together, in a 
bipartisan way, to make sure the rebuilding happens visibly and 
promptly.

                          ____________________