[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15848-15849]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              FEMA CAN DO BETTER FOR OUR FELLOW AMERICANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, there was applause from the gallery, and 
every American applauds.
  Mr. Speaker, I have an alert for the Trump administration. The Trump-
led FEMA, that is the Federal Emergency Management Agency, part of the 
Department of Homeland Security, is falling far short on disaster 
relief in Puerto Rico. In fact, I think one could say they are actually 
perilously short on helping the people, our fellow citizens, in Puerto 
Rico.
  It has now been 22 days, that is 528 hours, since Hurricane Maria 
destroyed Puerto Rico. Hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens in 
Puerto Rico still--still--have no fresh water, no power, little food, 
with many villages lacking any means for communication. Many have no 
dry cots or even dry sleeping bags to replace the wet mattresses and 
moldy surroundings that characterize the Puerto Rico of today.

[[Page 15849]]

  Let me say that Puerto Rico is not a large island. It is a little 
over 100 miles wide, not much larger than my congressional district in 
Ohio which extends from Cleveland to Toledo. The difference with Puerto 
Rico is the topography is much more hilly.
  I ask myself the question: Why hasn't FEMA had airdrops of vital 
sustenance from the very start? Where is that help to these far-flung 
villages that have been cut off because, when the rains came, they 
washed out bridges and roads that make all these tiny towns 
inaccessible? Inaccessible.
  Fresh water packets can be airdropped. Our military does that all 
over the world. Why can't those fresh water packets be dropped in 
Puerto Rico?
  We can drop packets with peanut butter and bread. We do that all over 
the world. Why can't we do that in Puerto Rico? Why can't we airdrop 
food?
  Citizens in Ohio with families and friends in Puerto Rico about whom 
they are desperately worried have been told that many smaller towns 
where they have relationships lack relief and any assistance now 528 
hours, 22 days, into this deep human tragedy.
  I want to place in the Record, and I hope somebody at FEMA is 
listening, names of some of the villages that are completely cut off 
because roads and bridges were destroyed and no relief has come. No 
relief has come.
  Ponce, in the south, is one. Utuado, Jayuya, Arecibo, Yauco, Corozal, 
Comerio, Loiza, Toa Baja, Cabo Rojo, and Llanadas. Those are names we 
have been given. Aid to these pockets of desperation is almost 3 weeks 
overdue. People need relief now.
  FEMA also needs a better plan. In fact, they need a plan. I don't 
think they have any plan to immediately evacuate people to the mainland 
for respite. Places like Cleveland, Lorain, and Toledo, Ohio, we could 
accept people who now are living in conditions you would wish on no 
American.
  We cannot risk more illness and death. Children should not be missing 
school after the horror they have experienced. We shouldn't have the 
level of hardship that has been subjected to people who are still 
enduring the devastation of Maria. What is happening there is inhumane.
  Most of the television stations are down in San Juan, and that is 
where the Governor of Puerto Rico is most of the time when our codels 
go down there, but the desperation is in the countryside. It is outside 
of San Juan, which is inaccessible.
  President Trump, the people of America and, let me tell you, those in 
Ohio need you to help their families and countrymen now. FEMA can do so 
much better for our fellow Americans.
  FEMA's initials stand for Federal Emergency Management. So where is 
the emergency? Where is the management? And where is the Federal 
reputation for excellence and leaving no man or woman behind?
  FEMA, shape up. America demands more, and Americans deserve more.


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will remind all persons in the 
gallery that they are here as guests of the House and that any 
manifestation of approval or disapproval of proceedings is in violation 
of the rules of the House.

                          ____________________