Two years after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, there is much work left to be done.

Congress must do its job to help the people of Puerto Rico by investigating inequitable response  and treatment by the federal government for disaster recovery and rebuilding! That includes holding accountable those in the federal government and Administration who have been accused of intentionally, and possibly illegally, prevented needed funds - appropriated by Congress - from getting to the island and intentionally creating barriers to accessing recovery dollars that have not been imposed on others. Investigations must also be held into charges of corruption, fraud, and mismanagement perpetrated by federal agencies and contractors. Congress must also get answers about why only 4% of the money allocated to help schools repair and reopen has been received by Puerto Rico and do more to help students displaced by closing hundreds of schools on the island.

After FEMA and the Trump administration failed to provide adequate assistance to the island, and after the president has made clear he will arbitrarily withhold Congressionally approved funding for disaster relief in Puerto Rico, it has become evident that we, the people, need to demand that you, the U.S. Congress immediately investigate President Trump’s flouting of Congressional intent in the robust and urgent manner the situation requires.

Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, yet two years later, for thousands of people the storm is still not over. As of the Summer of 2019, 30,000 homes in Puerto Rico still live under plastic blue tarps instead of roofs. Tens of thousands of traffic lights, roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and other basic infrastructure have still not been rebuilt. Yet Congress has approved billions in aid that the Trump Administration refuses to disburse to Puerto Rico. 

In addition, the president continues to find more ways to block other types of federal funds for the island. For example, in September 2019, the Trump administration announced it would take $400 million from the Puerto Rico National Guard, and other state national guards, to fund a wall along the southern border. This comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development purposefully missing a September 4 deadline to send $8.3 billion in critical mitigation funds to Puerto Rico at the height of hurricane season. The President’s continuous false claims about the amount of federal aid sent to the island, combined with his relentless verbal assaults against the people of Puerto Rico, demand the type of response only the U.S. Congress can provide. 

As such, we demand that Congress not only investigate these matters urgently and thoroughly, but also legislate to create an independent 9/11-style commission to get to the bottom of the disastrous federal response to what was the deadliest natural disaster in US history. It is estimated that between 3,000 and 4,500 U.S. citizens died as a result of Hurricane Maria and its aftermath and over 150,000 people were displaced, many of them permanently, by what has now been confirmed as the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. We should honor their memory by getting to the bottom of what happened and learning what we can to make sure this type of inexcusable federal response never happens again.

When people come together and demand change, you, the elected officials that represent us in Congress have to listen. It is time for the federal government to deploy the resources that should have been provided in the first place. It is time for our government to send a message that disaster relief should be provided to all U.S. communities without distinction.

We the undersigned demand you immediately address these and other urgent problems facing our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico.