[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15750]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           RELIEF EFFORT IN PUERTO RICO AFTER HURRICANE MARIA

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, what a privilege it has been for me to know 
and do my best to help community leaders in Lorain, Ohio, who have been 
engaged in the Puerto Rican relief effort following Hurricane Maria.
  Lorain Councilman Angel Arroyo, along with many of our constituents, 
have been organizing local shipments to Puerto Rico. Last week, working 
with celebrities like Bravo TV star Bethenny Frankel, Councilman Arroyo 
helped arrange seven truckloads of aid that were flown in on a private 
charter airplane.
  Human stories from relatives across that vast region focused on the 
tragic lack of aid, especially within the vast interior parts of that 
island. Our district has the largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in 
Ohio, and families are very worried. FEMA is not doing its job, and the 
Trump administration should get an F for all of the citizens of this 
country that are being left behind.
  Victor Leandry of the Lorain-based nonprofit El Centro noted that his 
sister and brother-in-law live in a smaller city, Ponce, and, as of 
this weekend, they still had no power.
  I include in the Record a letter from a constituent's family member 
detailing the dire situation: no water, no electricity, no radio 
contact, with families' life savings destroyed, their crops and their 
land as well.
  We need to address the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico. What is 
happening there is un-American. The Trump administration better wake up 
and help the citizens of this country.

       Hi
       My parents live in Lares Puerto Rico in the Barrio called 
     Palmallanos. November will make two years since they moved 
     back ``home''. They worked since day one to get their land 
     aka finca to what it was when my grandparents owned the home. 
     They did a great job. They had Banana and Avocado trees. Had 
     just planted roughly 200 coffee trees and couldn't wait to 
     watch them grow. They had planted different herbs as well as 
     squash and beans.
       All of that was lost on September 20th when Hurricane Maria 
     ripped straight down the island. I could not get in touch 
     with my parents for two long weeks.
       Finally I received the call I had been waiting for. While 
     my parents are safe and their house is intact, they lost 
     everything on their land. They had some flooding in the home 
     and a shed they had their washer and dryer in had its roof 
     ripped off and flooding. The river that runs through their 
     land rose so much that my dad could not sleep concerned that 
     it would rise to their home. Fortunately it did not, however 
     due to the rains and winds the house did get flooded, but 
     they were able to work for hours nonstop to get the water 
     out.
       After two weeks they are still without running water, 
     electricity and phone service. They drive 30-40 minutes to 
     get cell Service as well as go get water. They have to take 
     whatever containers they have to fill up. They have received 
     no additional assistance. They went to the market and were 
     lucky enough to get a bag of rice and some canned goods.
       They have enough propane to have one warm meal a day and 
     the rest of the time they eat whatever they have in cans or 
     other non perishable items. They boil water to drink and 
     shower with rain water.
       As for eating any dairy or meat, well they haven't in two 
     weeks. They are concerned to eat any meat they could get from 
     the store for fear of getting sick due to no electricity 
     anywhere and the inability to keep anything cold.
       When getting gas, they waited in line for 2.5 hours and a 
     letter they had mailed me on 9/24 finally arrived on 10/6. 
     They have not received mail and are not able to get packages.
       I asked if they wanted to come and stay with me and my 
     family and they said no. Why? Well, they are afraid of 
     leaving their home due to looting. They want to keep what 
     they have left.
       I know my parents are strong people, but honestly, I don't 
     know how much longer anyone in their situation can make it.
       Prayers for Puerto Rico.
     Seny Kerfonta.

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