Rep. Velazquez Issues Statement on FEMA Contract

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 -- Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez, D-New York, issued the following statement in response to a report in the New York Times regarding Federal Emergency Management Agency awarding and then voiding a contract for emergency food delivery in Puerto Rico to a one-person firm:

"This is the latest example of how the Trump Administration has repeatedly failed the people of Puerto Rico and bungled its response to this historic disaster.

"Whether it was the delay before dispatching the USNS Comfort, the gap before appointing a 'czar' to oversee the military portion of the response, previous FEMA contracting failures related to tarp distribution or any other countless examples, the fact is this Administration has let down 3.3 million American citizens as they suffer through a humanitarian crisis.

"Now, we find that food delivery may have been delayed because FEMA chose to contract for 30 million meals with a company that was, by any standard, ill-equipped for the task and that already had a questionable record of federal contracts.

"There needs to be accountability. I will continue following up on this issue and thank my Democratic colleagues on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee for seeking answers to how this happened."

Democrats on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee today requested that their Committee issue subpoenas related to the Trump Administration's handling of the disaster response in Puerto Rico.