WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), a senior member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and ranking member of the Environmental and Public Works Committee, met with the Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, and former Governor Pedro Rosselló to discuss the ongoing recovery efforts in Puerto Rico following the devastating 2017 hurricane season. Yesterday, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing to review the federal response to the 2017 hurricane season.
“As Puerto Rico embarks on its long and difficult rebuilding efforts, we owe it to our neighbors and fellow Americans in Puerto Rico to be guided by the Golden Rule – to treat other people the way we want to be treated – in assisting with these efforts. The residents of Puerto Rico and their leaders must do their part, but our federal government has a moral obligation to help as well. It will be a long road to full recovery, but every Puerto Rican deserves to know that there’s a path to a better and safer future and clearing that path is a shared responsibility.
“I cannot overstate the urgent need for action to restore power, repair homes and other structures, as well as ensure the availability of safe and clean drinking water as quickly as possible in Puerto Rico. We must also make smart investments that don’t simply replace the aging, and in some cases costly and inefficient, infrastructure destroyed by recent hurricanes. In adversity lies opportunity, and the federal government’s responsibility to help the victims of these disasters includes helping to rebuild the infrastructure they depend on to ensure it is more resilient when the next storm hits. By making smart choices as we rebuild, not only can we increase resiliency, but we can also make that infrastructure more efficient and energy more affordable. We all have a role to play in these efforts, and I look forward to working with Governor Rosselló, the administration and my colleagues in Congress in the months to come.”
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