Rep. Pelosi Issues Remarks on Hurricane Recovery in Puerto Rico

YABUCOA, Puerto Rico, July 27 -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, issued the following remarks:

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Pelosi joined the Members of the Congressional delegation to Puerto Rico for a press conference to discuss their conversations with local leaders on outstanding hurricane recovery and disaster preparedness needs at Colegio Roque Diaz Tizol in Yabucoa.

Below are the Leader's remarks:

"Thank you, [Congresswoman] Nydia Velazquez for the invitation to be here. All who are here came here with a love of Puerto Rico, bringing experiences from natural disasters that have happened in our communities, some bringing expertise from committees of jurisdiction in which they serve. All of us come with a great love of Puerto Rico and a great desire to give Puerto Rico the opportunity to have a boom economy, to leap-frog over any past issues that relate to energy or this-and-that, but to make its own community-based decisions. We came here to listen, we came here to learn: we did not come here to preach. We came here to carry back a message of what the priorities are of the people of Puerto Rico, and we met with the Governor, we have an ongoing conversation with him about how we can expedite, make things happen faster.

"We met with FEMA folks, Mike Byrne is here, thank you, Mike, for your leadership today. We took the opportunity to thank hundreds and hundreds of volunteers and workers who have come to help here. So, as [Congresswoman] Nydia [Velazquez] said, it's to see how far we have come but really to find out what more needs to be done.

"Listening to the community-based organizations, the labor unions, visiting the disaster recovery centers, seeing the Casa Pueblo and the initiative there to move away from fossil fuels and to renewables and how that cuts costs but also saves the planet.

"As I've said, when I've come here, many, many times to Puerto Rico, I have always learned how you do things and how culturally appropriate they need to be but what leadership you provide. My carry-back from this is that we need, perhaps, in our legislating, in our advocacy, to find ways to speed things up, to cut red tape, to reduce bureaucratic obstacles to moving resources to the people to build the future and, again, I think there is an opportunity to leap-frog over - renewables - all kinds of new and innovative ways that we have heard from the people of Puerto Rico that they have the aspirations to do.

"We all like to brag - who has a cousin here, who has this or that - I always say it takes too long to say why I love Puerto Rico. It started with my college roommate, Sonia Zapata, who is here. You talk about your second person you met in college, I like to remember the first person. But starting then, but honeymoons, anniversaries, this, that and the other thing and many times officially. Name it, I've been there visiting the family of my college roommate.

"We care about Puerto Rico. We care, as we go forward this time that it is a model to the world of not only resiliency but innovation, again, distinguished by a Puerto Rican symbol of greatness, love of people, respect and dignity and worth of every person and, in rebuilding, creating an economy that reduces income inequality, reduces cost in energy and the rest to give people many more options. That's what we think our role is: to help the people of Puerto Rico have options and it is a joy to work with [Congresswoman] Nydia [Velazquez] because, as you know, it is her life and here we are where she grew up and it is emotional to have that experience, because there isn't a day that goes by, in fact, there isn't an hour that goes by that she isn't constantly keeping us focused on a path so nobody ever forgets. So you know that is the case. I am also pleased to be here with all the colleagues you heard introduced. If you have any very difficult questions, they will be pleased to answer them but I am pleased to introduce your Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon.

"Working with [Congresswoman] Nydia Velazquez and sharing first-hand knowledge of the needs, the know-how and possibilities, we are a place that we all love, a place where we are all Americans. It is my pleasure to introduce your Resident Commissioner [Gonzalez-Colon]."

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Q: Senator Sanders and Senator Warren have a bill to slash Puerto Rico's debt - I know Congresswoman Velazquez has introduced bills - what is your thought on this? Is there a path forward for it?

Leader Pelosi. This is a new initiative and we have to look at the whole picture and that is one of the possibilities that is there and it is really important. What we heard from the grassroots groups today, the religious organizations and the rest, is that, as we go forward with all of this, as we look to the debt of Puerto Rico, let us go forward in a way that does not institute austerity measures which will only exacerbate inequality, disparity of income in Puerto Rico.

"I study this issue very carefully. The bill just came so I have to see what the possibilities are for it but what we have to do is make sure that that debt - it's bigger than just one bill. How did we get here in the first place? What is the exploitation of the marketplace here that got us to this place in the first place? And how can we avoid that - how can we prevent that from happening again? And it's not just about one bill, however important that might be, it's about integrity of investment in Puerto Rico and not exploitation.

Q: Do you have intentions to pass that bill?

Leader Pelosi. Well, you would have to ask the Commissioner because we are not in power so that would be up to the Republicans to bring that to the Floor. Do you have something to add? The question is about [Senator] Elizabeth Warren's plan with the debt.

"Resident Commissioner Gonzalez Colon. There was a bill that was presented in the Senate, not sure if it was presented in the House. I know that Nydia [Velazquez] is working on one in the House, so we haven't seen the bill so in order to talk about it, the least we can do is actually read it. Again, we need to read it in order to know what we are talking about.

Leader Pelosi. Okay, so how we go forward in a fair way, with integrity so that it takes us away from a path of further exploitation. Really, Puerto Rico is in the position it is in because, in my view, greed in the marketplace and we cannot let that happen again. Any other questions? I would say to the Resident Commissioner - we could give her a vote - all we have to do is win the vote.

"...

"I just might go back to the idea of how does Puerto Rico, again, just become all the Puerto Rico can be. Springing forth, leap frogging past traditions and being innovative about the future. And you asked about a particular bill from Senator Warren. There are many things we've heard here that we've heard before that could be helpful and could be easy to do. That could have opposition from the - should we say - monied interests. And that is, we could do the low-income tax credit. We could address the Medicare and Medicaid funding issues, the cliff. There's so many thing that shouldn't be that difficult to do.

"The fact that the city of Detroit declared bankruptcy - they can, but Puerto Rico can't. So it exacerbated the conversation because they didn't have those kinds of options as they went on along. So I think you have to put everything on the table, see what is possible sooner, what you can negotiate for, and do it in a way that is not to replace to go back to where we were but we innovate and go into the future.

"What happened with the hurricanes, is it challenged the conscious of country. Mike Byrne of FEMA will not mind if I say, we put out a report just a couple weeks ago that said FEMA was not equipped with money. Nobody was ready for a second storm. Especially of the magnitude.

"So let's take a clear eyed evaluation of - they weren't ready. So additional concessions to Puerto Rico, to compensate, to mitigate, for that shortcoming.

"This is FEMA's own report that I'm talking about.

"[Applause]

"Q: Nancy Pelosi, can you talk a little bit about, you know, what are the priorities? What needs to be sped up? And following up on the question about the Debt Relief Bill, you know are there any other alternatives?

"Leader Pelosi. Well first of all, we're talking about, after a natural disaster as Congresswoman Velazquez said, there is a compact between the federal government and the American people. That was not fully honored in my view. So we're talking about right now - immediate relief - we're past that stage. Immediate relief, rescue and that. We're into the recovery stage of all of that. And when we're in the recovery phase, take advantage of the opportunities that are there.

"I think it's very important for the FEMA and the federal government to have clarity on what it's criteria. They're saying it's something called the 270, but that means it's about time. There is a concern about this. If you meet the standard it takes seven days, if you don't, it takes 140 days.

"There's the 428, another - I would say bureaucratic - but another requirement. It relates to people, or a state, or an agency, meet the standard and can get the money in a shorter period of time. So we're talking about, 'okay what are the standards for 270? What are the standards for 428?' They make it clear in the mind of the bureacrats but it may not be - shall we say - universally enforced in the same way in every disaster.

"So tell us what it is, tell us if it can be met, tell us if it's an inappropriate standard that shouldn't even apply here. So we all have a lot of experience because earthquakes, hurricanes, you name it, Sandy - well I guess that was a hurricane. But nonetheless time is the most valuable commodity. It makes a big difference in people's life if they qualify. So if they qualify, if Puerto Rico qualifies it goes much faster.

"So I think that was one of things more in depth that we became aware of in terms of obstacles in meeting the needs of the people, the agencies.

Q: Are there any other priorities? Federal assistance, loan assistance, anything else?

Leader Pelosi. Well of course the energy independence thing was really a breath of fresh air because that is saying what the Resident Commissioner was saying, and we all know, that the cost of energy could be an obstacle to moving forward because it's so costly. So, the beautiful breeze we feel here now, the sun, solar and the rest. That is the future to leap frog over those - shall we say - agents of the status quo who want to keep going in the fossil fuel direction and instead support those who are thinking more entrepreneurially, more innovatively about how you can reduce the cost of energy. Protect the planet at the same time. Create good-paying jobs, and again, have a booming economy that is a model for others after that.

"And I just want to make one more point on that regard. If you have a plan, people will respond. The people of Puerto Rico, community based, public, private, non-profit have plans. And we just want to say let's not have our good intentions get in the way of our plans, we all know that we have to have accountability. But to do it in a way that does not impede but instead expediates.

"So I'm optimistic about what we saw, I know we have some work to do when we go home but we want to do it expeditiously."