Hurricane and Wildfire Relief
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, Puerto Rico and the nearby U.S. Virgin Islands have been buffeted by not one but two successive hurricanes, including a direct hit by the powerful Hurricane Maria. Many citizens have had their homes and businesses destroyed, tens of thousands-- hundreds of thousands--are living without electricity, husbanding gas and food and water and their remaining cash. The situation is desperate. Puerto Rico has taken a serious punch to the gut. They need our help, and they need it now.
These are our fellow Americans--3.5 million of them. It is our duty in the Senate to speedily send aid to the people of Puerto Rico and to the U.S. Virgin Islands, just as we did for the people of Texas and Louisiana who were hit by Hurricane Harvey and the people of my own State when we suffered from Hurricane Sandy, as we will do for the people of Florida who were hit by Hurricane Irma.
So let's all work together to help the island of Puerto Rico rebuild and recover, just as we would anywhere else in America.
At the same time, we must bear in mind that much of the western part of our country is besieged by wildfires. The Senators from Oregon have come to the floor to remind us of our duty to help those parts of the country also.
The administration must quickly prepare an appropriate aid package for Florida, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Western States for Congress to act on in the near future. We Democrats will insist that any package of supplemental aid for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma also include aid for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Western States ravaged by forest fires. We owe it to every State and community impacted by these devastating hurricanes and these horrible firestorms.
One beautiful thing about this country is, although we are 50 States with different ideas and politics and accents, we are also one Nation, bound together, and we will come to the aid of any individual State or territory whenever one of them is in need.
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