Support Puerto Rico Earthquake Supplemental
Floor Speech
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Ms. PRESSLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in solidarity with the thousands of our Puerto Rican brothers and sisters surviving the loss and trauma of ongoing natural disasters that have ravaged the island of Puerto Rico, the youth, the elderly, the ill, the unhoused, those in poverty, and those living with disabilities who find themselves disproportionately harmed by food and healthcare insecurity, frequent power outages, infrastructure collapse, and barriers to transparency.
Just last month, 13-year-old Jaideliz Moreno Ventura died due to chronic medical supply shortages. The only medical center on her island, Vieques, has not reopened its doors since Hurricane Maria 3 years ago.
To this day, 240,000 students and their educators must stay home because their schools are still too unsafe to open, and 5,000 families remain displaced from their homes.
But the fear and anguish are not limited to those remaining on the island. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts proudly boasts the fifth largest Puerto Rican community in the country, and in the Massachusetts Seventh Congressional District, I represent 35,000 Puerto Ricans.
I have borne witness to both the strength and the pain of those who were displaced after Hurricane Maria who now call Boston home and those Puerto Ricans who have called Boston home for decades who fear for their family members who are still on the island. They share with me their ongoing fear for their families in Puerto Rico facing ongoing threats to their homes and their lives.
For too long, this administration has turned its back on the people of Puerto Rico. It is shameful, and we must not allow it to continue.
I am grateful for the leadership of Chairwoman Lowey and Chairman Neal in working to organize this much-needed funding package that we will vote on later today. I also recognize my colleague from New York, Representative Velazquez, for her unwavering love, which has informed her unwavering fight for the island.
In my own district, I thank IBA, Chelsea Collaborative, Somos de Sabana Grande, the Puerto Rican Veterans Association, and many more. I urge my colleagues to support this package, H.R. 5687.
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