October 2, 2017 The Call – #PuertoRicoNeedsHelpNow #PuertoRicoRelief Following the direct hit by Hurricane Maria, the situation is Puerto Rico is apocalyptic, with no power, unpassable roads, decimated agriculture and much of its infrastructure destroyed. Acute shortages of food, water, fuel and medicine have created a humanitarian crisis. Despite the clear warnings that Puerto Rico would take a direct hit from a devastating hurricane, the US had only a fraction of the emergency personnel and supplies on the ground before Maria hit. General Honoré, who took over and fixed the botched Hurricane Katrina response, slammed Trump’s response to Maria as “slow and small.” The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is calling for an additional aid package to address the devastation in Puerto Rico be taken up as early as this week. While Trump issued a 10 day waiver of the Jones Act, which requires all supplies from the mainland to be on US made and manned ships, he has refused to issue the one-year waiver many in Congress have requested. Without the waiver, building and reconstruction supplies will cost twice as much in Puerto Rico as on the mainland. The slow and inadequate action by the Trump administration, compounded by Trump’s demeaning rhetoric, is shocking. Puerto Ricans are our fellow U.S. citizens and we must respond to their terrible circumstances as we did with people in Texas and Florida. Your Action Call your 3 Members of Congress and urge them to act quickly on an aid package for Puerto Rico and to support legislation to get emergency relief to Puerto Rico including quick approval of additional relief funds and a one-year waiver of the Jones Act. Talking Points
This is [NAME] and I’m a constituent in [ZIP].
We have a humanitarian disaster unfolding in Puerto Rico. I am extremely concerned that aid efforts to Puerto Rico have been slow and insufficient.
I urge [Rep/Sen____]to do everything possible to get emergency aid to, and to quickly authorize additional relief funding for Puerto Rico.
I also want [Rep/Sen____] to support legislation for a one-year waiver of the Jones Act to help Puerto Rico in the massive recovery effort it faces.