Aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria

Floor Speech

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Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to talk about an important forum my colleagues and I will be hosting tomorrow.

While this month of September marks the 1 year anniversary of Hurricanes Irma and Maria making landfall in the Virgin Islands as a Category 5 storm, the aftermath of the storm is still an everyday reality. According to the Hurricane Recovery and Resiliency Task Force report summary, total damage is estimated at $10.8 billion.

Earlier this month, I visited local schools as they opened for the new school year, and the conditions are troubling. The Virgin Islands Board of Education reported a drop of almost 40 percent in student enrollment, and Puerto Rico's Department of Education closed 265 schools last summer in the aftermath of the hurricanes.

Only 19 of the 33 public schools throughout the territory reopened on time, and many of those are in no shape for learning: a lack of school supplies and classroom resources for students; students resorting to either standing or sitting on crates, floors, and desks; libraries with few or no books; and unfinished construction.

Let's not be fooled, however. The level of damage to the schools in the Virgin Islands is due, in part, to the continual cuts over the years to the children of the Virgin Islands' education by funding from this body, the U.S. Congress.

On Thursday, September 27, I and other congressional Democrats will host a forum to discuss the state of public education and related recovery efforts in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The forum's most important mission will be to discuss new ideas and plans to speed up the recovery process to place our schools in a better economic state. We must do better.

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