Rep. Gallego Calls for Major Disaster Declaration in Response to Puerto Rico Earthquakes
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) released the following statement in response to new reports that the Trump Administration would release their hold on delayed disaster relief funds for Puerto Rico:
"President Trump must immediately make a major disaster declaration in response to the recent and ongoing severe earthquakes that have struck Puerto Rico. Continuing to delay this declaration only hurts over 3 million American citizens on the island and exacerbates the crisis the President created by not fully releasing aid funding to the island after Hurricane Maria.
"I am pleased by the Trump administration's announcement that it plans to end the unlawful withholding of $8.2 billion of Congressionally-approved disaster relief funding that was intended to be disbursed to Puerto Rico months ago. Unfortunately, even with this announcement, the crisis in Puerto Rico is far from resolved, and the President's complete mismanagement of aid has only worsened the situation. His callous delay has only put even more lives in jeopardy.
"Our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico should not continue to have to manage both natural disasters and the man-made disaster caused by the President."