OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Plight of Puerto Rico

Floor Speech

Date: May 1, 2019
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security Government Budget and Spending

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Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, at a hearing examining Puerto Rico's Financial Oversight Board, I plan to stand strong with the Puerto Rican families I represent and demand to hear the board's plan for reversing Puerto Rico's plight.

At a time that families are leaving the island, schools are closing, and homes and communities destroyed by Hurricane Maria still have not been rebuilt, the fiscal board is forcing Puerto Ricans to sacrifice pensions, wages, and crucial government services.

People are hungry, using plastic tarps as roofs, and living without electricity or heat.

I toured the devastated areas earlier this year and met with families in my district whose relatives are still suffering last week.

Well over a year after Maria, less than 20 percent of the aid that the fiscal board anticipated has been delivered.

How can Puerto Rico recover while its oversight board continues to squeeze the island and President Trump continues to block disaster aid and food stamps?

Tomorrow, I will stand with our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico and demand answers to these questions.

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