Sen. Menendez on Senate Floor Calls for Puerto Rico Aid Package and Blasts Trump’s Lackluster Response to Hurricane Maria
* "I rise today, like I have on so many occasions, to give voice to the three and half million Americans who call
The Senator brought to the floor a series of photos and an infographic which can be downloaded for use here (https://www.flickr.com/photos/61259067@N02/albums/72157686591830981).
Since Hurricane Maria ravaged the island, leaving behind historic devastation,
* Called for the President to use authority given to him under the Cold War-Era Defense Production Act to use
* Sent a letter with his
* Lead a coalition of Senators in writing to Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell urging them to bring up an emergency disaster supplemental bill to fund CDBG-DR,
* Sent a letter to
* Joined colleagues in sending a letter expressing deep concern about the situation in
The Senator's full remarks as prepared for delivery:
Mr. President, I rise today - like I have on so many occasions - to give voice to the three and half million Americans who call
Here on the floor with me today are aerial photos of the destruction caused by Hurricane Maria - the astounding damage I saw firsthand when I toured
Take this collapsed bridge in the municipality of Utuado, situated in the central mountains of
Images like these have stayed with me from the moment I left
If we hope to overcome the monumental challenges before us, we need a full grasp of the reality on the ground. I thought that's why
The President told the people of
Like many, I had hoped that during his visit to
Instead, the President took to victim-blaming at a whole new level. He told emergency responders and local elected officials that, and I quote, "I hate to tell you,
Because it's going to take more than paper towels to help the people of
In this country, we don't turn our backs on Americans in need. We don't complain about how much it costs to restore power to hospitals, or rebuild roads in ruin, or get clean drinking water and food and medicine to the hungry and frail. We're
If you heard the President speak earlier this week, you would hear that everything is going great, and he, in particular, is doing the greatest job any President has ever done in the history of the world.
The Administration will tell you that the majority of hospitals are open, but leave out the fact that many are running on emergency generators at significantly reduced capacity. They'll leave out how the shortages of ambulances, fuel, and functional roads have made getting to the hospital nearly impossible. And even if you do find a way there, the hospitals might not have the medicine, supplies, or doctors you need.
The Administration will boast that it has set up 11 distribution points for food, water and other necessities. But what good is a distribution center that takes hours to reach and is out of supplies before you get there?
They'll brag that about half of the people have access to running water, but neglect to say that in some rural areas in the north, barely over 13 percent of people have access to running water. They'll boast about all the buildings being inspected, but look at this image I took 5 days before the President landed. This is just 25 minutes outside of
It is impossible that ALL of these structures would have been inspected for safety. I saw this same sight across
What does all this tell us? It tells us an unfortunate truth: the Administration's response to this crisis has been woefully inadequate from the start. For two weeks, Puerto Ricans cried out for help: help accessing clean water, help powering hospitals, help feeding families.
Yet the President accused them - the victims of this historic natural disaster - of being ingrates, clamoring for handouts. He dismissed the urgency of their situation. And he effectively called the Mayor of
Well, this is the Mayor of
I knew from the start that we weren't getting the full picture, and because the Administration went out of its way not to provide support for a bipartisan congressional delegation to visit the island, I decided to go myself. After all, it will be the responsibility of
So last Friday I boarded an
It is no exaggeration to say that the island I saw on Friday is not the island I've known and loved. The lush green tropical landscape that comes to mind when we think of
I met with the Governor of
I saw debris, mudslides and fallen trees on the inland streets; destroyed homes sprinkled with the occasional - yet all too familiar blue of
Here's an all too familiar scene - a seemingly strong cement structure. On the surface impervious to the strong winds of a hurricane, and yet it's now on the verge of sinking into the earth. The Hurricane eroded so much land that in some inner parts of the island, landslides have become the new normal. The people who lived here may never be able to return. Entire generations of close-knit communities may never be the same.
Despite these dire conditions, during my visit to Puerto Rico I felt the spirit of community and commitment shared by so many Americans across the island. After Hurricane Maria, they awoke to devastation, no communication, and the isolating effect of roads being cut-off by fallen trees, electrical posts, and debris.
As they wait and wonder when their government will come to their aid, they are doing everything they can to survive. They've taken matters into their own hands. They're clearing roads, sheltering relatives who've lost their homes, working together to care for the most vulnerable.
Through it all I saw the same hardworking spirit alive in
Like so many Americans, I too worried about my family on the island. My brother faces health challenges - and I worried about his care. Fortunately we had a brief moment to meet. I was able to give him some supplies, and help one person. But as tough as his situation was, he's one of the lucky ones. He lives in a suburb of
So, fifteen days after the storm ravaged the island, where does it stand? Well, 91% of our fellow Americans are still without power. And I can tell you firsthand the heat and humidity is stifling and oppressive.
57% of
And day by day, fewer and fewer Puerto Ricans have access to clean running water. From
The truth is this situation would be unacceptable in any major city on the
The ugly truth is that for generations,
Hurricane Maria didn't create this disparity, but it exposed the long-standing inequities that have hindered the island's success for generations. The people of
This didn't happen overnight-- these wrongs add up overtime. As
So when Hurricanes Irma and Maria slammed into
We saw this storm coming. We knew for days that a Category 5 Hurricane was on a collision course with
In short, all of us knew that Hurricane Maria was a recipe for disaster that would leave three and half million Americans imperiled, disconnected, in the dark.
It should not have taken the administration 12 days to issue a disaster declaration - something I called for - for 100% of the island. Because as I saw on Friday, there's no community in
Instead, the Administration told us that
We have no more time to waste. That's why it's so urgent that we take action now. If we can send 20,000 troops to
We need more helicopters airdropping food and water to secluded communities. We need generators delivered and the repair of communications towers expedited. Now it's up to the President to mobilize every resource possible to save lives, to get the lights turned on, to rebuild bridges, to reach secluded communities, to reconnect families.
We can't afford to waste any more time - not when lives are on the line, not when elderly residents in nursing homes grow frailer by the moment, not when hungry American children have nothing to eat, not when communities are without clean drinking water for days on end.
So we have to keep the pressure on this Administration. That's why I wrote the President urging he activate the Defense Production Act of 1950 so that the military could more quickly deliver vast private sector resources to those in need.
That's why my colleagues and I wrote the
That's why we've written the
This is an all-hands on deck situation for the federal government. But
It's up to us here in
We must give Puerto Ricans the tools to rebuild. That means making sure that
The damage, by some estimates, could be as much as
I hope all of us, the Administration, my colleagues in
All of us here in the
We need to pass a disaster package that matches the astounding damage suffered by the island. The photos I've brought to the floor give you a glimpse - but not a full picture - of the devastation on the ground. It's not enough to reconnect a faulty, ailing power grid. It's time to be proactive and rebuild
I will remind my colleagues that Puerto Ricans are not just citizens of
Throughout our history, Puerto Ricans have given their lives so that we may remain the Land of the Free, and to this day more than 10,000 Puerto Ricans serve in every branch of the
Let's also remember that beyond the 3.4 million citizens living on the island, there are five million Puerto Ricans living in our states, our congressional districts, and our communities. In the aftermath of this unprecedented disaster - these Americans deserve the same rights, respect, and response from their federal government.
That's what I told leaders from
We all remembered how hard it was to secure the funding we needed to rebuild
And guess what? We had two
The Americans in
Now is not the time to pretend like recovery will be a piece of cake. No one - not the Governor, not the President, not any one of us - should sugarcoat the human catastrophe playing out in
It's time for honesty - about the conditions on the ground, the challenges we face, and the actions we must take. Yes,
We're
If we conducted the Berlin Airlift, set up tactical operations in the mountains of
With that, I yield the floor.
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