Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-New York, born in Puerto Rico, sent a letter signed by 145 Democratic members of Congress urging the President to assign a senior general, deploy the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and increase personnel to assist local law enforcement, on Wednesday.
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Lawmakers Call for Military General to Oversee Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands Relief
In a news release publicizing the lawmakers' letter, Velazquez noted that Trump congratulated his administration on its response to Hurricane Maria at a news conference Tuesday.
“If President Trump doesn’t swiftly deploy every available resource that our country has, then he has failed the people of Puerto Rico – and this will become his Katrina. Every second in this effort counts and the stakes are too high for further delay, inaction or inefficiency,” Velazquez stated.
Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who serves on the House Armed Services Committee said he has been speaking to U.S. Northern Command and DOD.
“DOD is fulfilling all that FEMA has asked it to do, but I fear that FEMA doesn’t understand the full scope of what needs to be done,” he said.
At a Senate committee hearing Wednesday, acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke said there is food and water and gasoline on the island. She said search and rescue efforts are complete, so now the focus is on distributing supplies. DHS has asked the Defense Logistics Agency to help augment National Guard troops who are moving goods and gasoline. AT&T is on island to work on restoring cell service.
She said Trump's decision to waive regulations requiring Puerto Rico to match FEMA disaster relief funds has been critical to getting industry into Puerto Rico. "The electrical industry and others didn't want to go there unless they knew they were going to get paid and this has allowed us to mobilize industry to move forward."
However Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said that waiver regulation should have been done when the hurricane hit, given Puerto Rico's already crippled economy.
"Clearly from the financial status of the island, they were going to be in no position to make the match so it's unfortunate that we had to wait this long," she said.
"Good Night, Shalom and Sweet Dreams!"
"Boner Appertite!"
"Good Night, Shalom and Sweet Dreams!"
"Boner Appertite!"
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