(1) 

ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT 

APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2019 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2018. 

MEMBERS’ DAY HEARING 

Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Good afternoon. The hearing will come to 

order. I would like to welcome everyone to the Energy and Water 

Member Day Hearing. 

Today our fellow members will testify on issues under the jurisdiction of the subcommittee that are important to them. Each witness will have 5 minutes to present their testimony. Members of 

the subcommittee will have an opportunity to ask questions if they 

would like. I know everyone has busy schedules today. So I would 

ask that everyone be mindful of the time, so that we can be sure 

to hear from everyone. I look forward to learning more from our 

colleagues on your priorities for this bill. 

I would like to recognize my friend and colleague, the Ranking 

Member Ms. Kaptur for any opening comments that she would like 

to make. Ms. Kaptur. 

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, good to see 

you there. 

And we welcome our guests, and we have been waiting a long 

time to hear from you. So, we are going to give you the time this 

morning, and thank you for testifying on behalf of your district, 

your state, and national issues that are of importance to you. We 

welcome you warmly. 

Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Thank you, Ranking Member Kaptur. At this 

time the Chair would like to recognize the gentleman from New 

Jersey, the Honorable Leonard Lance. Mr. Lance. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2018. 

WITNESS 

HON. LEONARD LANCE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY 

Mr. LANCE. Thank you very much, Chairman Fleischmann, 

Ranking Member Kaptur. And it is an honor to be before your subcommittee. This is the first time that I have been before your subcommittee, and thank you for permitting me to be with you. 

This provides me the opportunity to update the distinguished 

members of the subcommittee on the Rahway River Basin Flood 

Risk Management Feasibility Study. A key project that is critical 

to and affects constituents in the communities I serve in the north 

central New Jersey. It also affects other districts in New Jersey. 


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The area has experienced significant and repeated flooding over 

the past century. Most notably in the last decade, during tropical 

storm Floyd a nor’easter in 2007, Hurricane Irene in 2011, and of 

course Sandy in 2012. 

Hurricane Irene caused more than $50 million in damage, and 

had an effect on 3,000 residences, forcing some families out of their 

residences for more than a year. 

For the last 3 years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been 

advancing a study of a project aimed at reducing flooding along the 

Rahway River. This subcommittee has generously provided funding 

for the Investigations account essential to this work. 

And for that, Mr. Chairman, and Ranking Member, I am extremely grateful. 

Unfortunately, last year the Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters halted the tentatively-selected plan (TSP) prepared by the 

New York District. A plan that represented a compromise that had 

consensus support of the affected communities, and the Corps officials most familiar with the Rahway River. 

The powers related to concerns about a key component of the 

TSP, the Orange Reservoir Dam, which is considered a small dam 

that has been proposed for modifications or replacement, and provides much needed upstream storage in line or protection from 

flooding in downstream communities. 

Because of the TSP it was scheduled to lead to a Chief’s report 

in 2018, the constituents I serve have been dismayed at the impasse and the further delays that the project has encountered. 

I have been working directly with the Corps to address its concerns, and I am grateful that it has agreed to extend 3-by-3-by-3 

Rules to continue evaluation of the project, and has also agreed to 

perform a detailed geotechnical study of the Orange Reservoir Dam 

in conjunction with the non-Federal partner in the project, the New 

Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. 

I continue to believe that providing protection from flooding 

along the Rahway River, represents one of the clearest examples of 

the core function of the Federal Government, and of government at 

the State level, protection of life and property. 

I respectfully ask to continue to work closely with this subcommittee in its oversight capacity of the Army Corps of Engineers, 

because it is absolutely critical that Headquarters help us advanced a project that will provide significant protection from flooding in the affected communities. 

Inaction or a plan that does not offer adequate flood protection 

would be an unacceptable outcome. It will undermine the public 

trust in fulfilling this core function of us in Washington. 

We have the best experts in dams and flood control at the Army 

Corps, as this distinguished subcommittee knows better than I, and 

it is imperative that the Corps demonstrates that the project can 

be advanced. 

Thank you for your time today, and for your prior assistance 

with helping us to advance the Rahway River Project in a cooperative fashion. 

And Mr. Chairman, I yield back a minute. 

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Congressman Lance, I want to thank you for 

your testimony, sir. Ranking Member Kaptur, do you have any 

questions? 

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank the gentleman for his testimony. I do have 

one question. In the testimony you state that repeated flooding has 

been a particular challenge to your region. Could you answer for 

me whether between 1999 and 2012, whether the levels of flooding 

had increased, and if so, how would you compare it to the prior period in the 20th century? Do you see a difference? 

Mr. LANCE. Yes. Thank you, Ranking Member. Yes, it has increased, and we have had several 100-year floods in the last 20 

years, and of course that indicates that there is significant weather 

change that occurs along the East Coast. 

I am a Republican who believes in climate change, and I believe 

that some of this is due to the effects of these factors, and there 

is some suggestion that within 50 years, in another part of New 

Jersey, at our coast, which we call the Shore in New Jersey, that 

barrier islands may no longer exist. That is not the district I serve, 

but it certainly is proximate to the district I serve, and I have quite 

a few constituents who have Shore residences. 

Regarding the Rahway River, which is principally my concern 

today, it has flooded dramatically over the course of the last 10, or 

15 or 20 years, and much more so than was true in a prior time. 

Ms. KAPTUR. And is that largely due to rainfall, or toward 

Northeasters as you referred to? 

Mr. LANCE. It is largely due to these horrible storms such as 

Hurricane Sandy, Super Storm Sandy. There was a direct hit on 

New Jersey, this is 51⁄2 years ago, and there was dramatic damage 

across the entire region, and unfortunately, from the perspective of 

the State I represent, the direct hit was on New Jersey. 

Ms. KAPTUR. I just wanted to say I was little bit late because I 

was talking with the representative from Hawaii who has been 

spending the last several days flying back and forth to Kauai, 

which has been terribly damaged. And 3,000 people impacted trying to deal with really, severe weather-related damage on that island. 

So, thank you for your testimony, it gives us much pause for 

thought on what is happening to our country, and in different locations, and we will be mindful of what you recommend. 

Mr. LANCE. Thank you. And if might conclude by saying, I have 

known Congressman Frelinghuysen my whole life, our late fathers 

were involved in public life together, and from the perspective of 

New Jersey there is no more distinguished Chair anywhere in the 

House of Representatives than the gentleman from New Jersey, 

Mr. Frelinghuysen. 

I know that both of you work very closely with Congressman 

Frelinghuysen, and regardless of who succeeds him in Congress, I 

state this in a nonpartisan capacity from my perspective, and the 

perspective of the constituents whom I serve, Chairman Frelinghuysen has been the outstanding advocate on these issues that are 

important to the region he and I represent together. 

And I know both of you have been supportive of these issues. My 

thanks to both of you from the bottom of my heart. 


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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Congressman Lance, thank you for your testimony. And we appreciate all that you do for the great State of New 

Jersey. Thank you, sir. 

Mr. LANCE. Thank you very much. 

Mr. FLEISCHMANN. At this point in time I would like to recognize 

the distinguished gentleman from Virginia, the Honorable Morgan 

Griffith. Mr. Griffith, sir. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2018. 

WITNESS 

HON. H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM 

THE STATE OF VIRGINIA 

Mr. GRIFFITH. Thank you very much. To just put everything into 

perspective, I will tell you a little bit about my district. It is a fairly 

large district. I have 29 jurisdictions, 22 counties and 7 independent cities. The vast majority of those get a significant portion 

of the economic money from the coal industry one way or another, 

directly or indirectly, as you go further down in the district it becomes more heavily dependent on the coal industry. 

And the district, if you were to draw a line, and if you know 

these places, draw a line basically from Covington to Roanoke 

County in Salem, and then down to Martinsville. I don’t have any 

in Franklin County, I don’t have all the Roanoke County, but I 

have everything else from that line, which is roughly 141 on the 

Interstate, to the state line at 100, and then another hour-and-ahalf out to the Cumberland Gap which is west of Detroit, Michigan. 

So, it is a fairly large district. 

And as a result, as you know, I might be concerned about a lot 

of those issues, and 90 percent of that district lies within the Appalachian Region of the Commission’s footprint. This Commission has 

been doing great work for decades. I would love to be able to say 

that their work was just about done, but that is not the case as 

the industry continues to struggle with coal, and as the culture 

continues to struggle with economic development issues in and 

around the mountains, because while our mountains might not be 

the highest, they certainly are an impediment to getting things 

done. 

And many people know a lot of the things the Appalachian Region Commission does, but they also provide some money for roads, 

and as we try to transition, our economy as this country is moving 

away from using coal in such large amounts, I think it will continue to use coal in some amounts, but as it moves way from using 

coal in such large amounts, we have to reinvent our economy. 

We need some help with that. ARC helps with that on a number 

of fronts, but also on roads, we need a road. In one part of my district right now, we have no four-lane highway, it is very hard to 

convince people to build an economic development facility or a 

plant when there is no great road to get you out of there. 

The folks in the 81 Corridor are doing a little bit better, but over 

in the coal fields, we need some help. And ARC, you know, can help 

with that. We have got other projects that are not in your jurisdiction we would like to see come to fruition, but I hope you will conVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:36 Oct 18, 2018 Jkt 032382 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\A382P2.XXX A382P2

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tinue to fund the Appalachian Regional Commission, because of all 

the great things they do in the region. 

Now, talking about coal itself. I am convinced that coal will continue to be a major player worldwide. The Indians have a lot of 

coal. They are digging it. They are going to burn it. The Australians are producing a lot of coal which they export into the 

Asian markets. 

I don’t think we should go away from coal completely, but at the 

same time, I think we should, as a part of our overall policy, not 

just looking at the United States, but we were just talking about 

New Jersey and some of the impacts there, that they are feeling, 

we need to look at the entire world. 

We know for a NASA study from a number of years ago that it 

takes 10 days for sand, carried in a sand storm from the middle 

of the Gobi Desert to reach the Eastern Shore of Virginia. 

So if we are going to deal with issues related to pollution, and 

effects of carbon in the atmosphere, we need to continue to spend 

money on trying to find ways to burn our fossil fuels more cleanly, 

which is why I am also here to ask you to continue to fund the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy, so that we can have 

the research dollars to figure out how, for that coal that we are 

going to use, how we burn that more cleanly, but also to help export that technology to the world, because the rest of the world will 

continue to use coal. 

If they have a choice between having their people have food and 

jobs, or burning—if the choice is, I am not going to burn coal, but 

then my folks won’t have jobs, in places like India, or Central Asia, 

they are going to choose coal every time. 

They, like us, want to have clean air, it is not a question of wanting to have clean air. So, I think we need to continue to fund the 

Department of Energy’s Office on Fossil Energy, so that we can figure out ways to burn it more cleanly, not just for our industries, 

which will help my district, but because the world, I think, needs 

this technology. 

It can be done, there is lots of other interesting things going on 

with coal. I am happy to answer any questions that you all may 

have. 

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Thank you, Congressman Griffith. I will 

strongly reaffirm your support of the Appalachian Regional Commission. My district in the Third District of Tennessee benefits 

from that agency as well, and our districts are relatively close, and 

I do appreciate your kind words about coal. We have coal in the 

Third District of Tennessee, and Tennessee is about ready to get 

its primacy back. It is one of two States that does not have primacy. 

So, I thank you for your testimony. And I yield to my distinguished Ranking Member, for any questions she may have. 

Ms. KAPTUR. Yes. Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to thank the witness very much, Congressman Griffin, and to be a strong voice for 

Appalachian Regional Commission, which also impacts the State of 

Ohio. Not the part I represent, but in the southeastern quarter of 

the State, and also coal country. 

I agree with that you say about the necessity for economic diversification in these arenas, and this is one mechanism we have for 

that. I have always supported it. 

And then finally, on the issue of fossil energy, I can’t tell you 

how much money I have voted for over the years for fossil energy 

research. I agree with you there as well. I just wish somehow, scientifically we had been able to find an answer sooner on burning 

clean coal. 

But we continue to pursue that end, and we thank you very 

much for representing that cause here before our committee. 

Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Thank you, Ranking Member Kaptur. And 

Congressman, thank you for your testimony before this subcommittee, sir. Appreciate it. 

At this point in time I would like to recognize Representative 

Jenniffer Gonza ́lez-Colo ́n, from Puerto Rico. Representative Colo ́n. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2018. 

WITNESS 

HON. JENNIFFER GONZA ́ LEZ-COLO ́ N, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF PUERTO RICO 

Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́ N. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank 

you Ranking Member. 

First of all I appreciate the opportunity to be here this afternoon, 

and discuss some of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects in 

Puerto Rico. 

The Army Corps receives multiple projects in several municipalities, we have got 78 municipalities at this time. And the work is 

critical to infrastructure and economic stability on the island. 

As you were aware, late last year Puerto Rico was greatly impacted by two consecutive hurricanes of historical magnitude, and 

left historical damages, too. 

Today, 8 months later there are 43,000 families without power. 

And I may say that at this time, we actually have island-wide 

power outages on the whole island, and it is going to take 24 hours 

to 36 hours to recover. And that will tell you how fragile the system still is as we speak. 


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As Puerto Rico’s sole representative in Congress and someone 

who was on the ground when the hurricane hit, I can tell you, 

there was no way to prepare or expect such catastrophe. But we 

continue to move forward, and the people of Puerto Rico are resilient and hardworking, and we will overcome this difficult period 

with lessons learned and a greater sense of community. 

But today I would like to use the rest of my time to talk about 

a particular community project, the Can ̃ o Martı ́n Pen ̃ a Ecosystem 

Restoration Project, located in San Juan. The Can ̃ o Martı ́n Pen ̃a 

community is located in 3.75-mile tidal channel within the San 

Juan Bay National Estuary, and is home to over 26,000 of my constituents. 

The community has struggled for decades with debris and waste 

accumulation in the channel. Resulting in public health and sanitary complications. Even the slightest rainfall causes the channel 

to flood, and it affects the homes in the Can ̃ o, neighboring communities in San Juan, and the Luis Mun ̃ oz Marı ́n International Airport. 

The hurricane exacerbated this predicament by mounting the 

amount of debris that already clogs the channel, and with such 

high levels of pollution, houses are often flooded with organic waste 

and trash. 

Keep in mind that we are talking about thousands of families 

with children and elders that have no other option but to deal with 

this unfortunate reality, and live day after day with poor sanitation 

conditions. 

Also keep in mind that this year, the hurricane season is rapidly 

approaching, and we need to do anything we can to revitalize this 

community as quickly as possible. 

As you all are aware, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 includes 

and allotment of more $50 million for the Army Corps to construct 

and repair areas damaged by natural disasters, such as Hurricane 

Harvey, Irma and Maria. 

Additional priorities covered under this description include work 

related to repair rehabilitation study, design and construction in 

Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands that will be conducted at 

full-Federal expense, and I would like to thank the Committee for 

making that amendment on the bill. 

This is the time to act, and the provisions from funding included 

in the bill will provide a remarkable opportunity to the Army Corps 

to continue working on the Can ̃ o Martı ́n Pen ̃ a, considering the incidental flooding benefits it represents and the impact it will have 

in the San Juan overall area. 

Restoring the Can ̃ o will greatly enhance the quality of life of residents in this area, and will result in greater community opportunity for its residents in San Juan and all the island. 

I urge the Army Corps to consider this as a priority for the flooding restoration assistance it provides, and I would like to enlist, of 

course, the help of this Committee to do so accordingly with the 

Committee rules and regulations. 

I would also like to submit list of the other Army Corps projects 

still being developed in some municipalities for the record. I got the 

letter. It was submitted to the Committee, and to Army Corps, so 


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I just wanted to put that on the record, and the letter we sent the 

Army Corps with Congressman Jose ́ Serrano. 

Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the President of the State, 

Senator from Puerto Rico, Miguel Romero who is also in support 

of the development of this project. 

And with that, I yield back my time. And I want to thank both 

of you, and members of the committee for helping us. Remember 

I don’t vote, I can’t vote on the floor. So, your votes were instrumental for all the money that was assigned to the island. 

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Thank you for your testimony. Senator, welcome to the subcommittee. It is good to have you here, sir. We certainly sympathize and empathize with the residents of Puerto Rico. 

I was a supporter of the omnibus bill which provided needed funding to the island. And we wish you well with all of your endeavors. 

At this time I would like to yield to Ranking Member Kaptur. 

Ms. KAPTUR. Thank you so very much, Congresswoman 

Gonza ́lez-Colo ́n for being here today. And your colleague from 

Puerto Rico, Senator Romero. Thank you so much. Glad to have 

you here. 

And I wanted to ask just a question. In your early part of your 

testimony you say Puerto Rico was gravely impacted by two consecutive hurricanes of historical magnitude. We all saw that. Could 

you discuss that in the context of past storms that have impacted 

Puerto Rico? How do you see your ecosystem changing? 

Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́ N. I mean, the main difference is, in 90 

years Puerto Rico was never impacted by a hurricane like this. We 

always get hit by a hurricane, so we are used to hurricanes, but 

never having a hurricane cross the whole island, entering like that, 

and making landfall in the east side, going through the mountains 

in the center part of the island, and getting out to the west. It was 

more than a day that we had the hurricane hitting us. 

So, that is the main difference between all the regular hurricanes. The second one, I will say that we were preparing for Hurricane Irma, so all supplies were being used for Hurricane Irma in 

Puerto Rico, and in the U.S. Virgin Islands, because Puerto Rico 

is the distribution center for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

So, when the second hurricane hit the island, most of the provisions were already, you know, going to U.S. Virgin Islands, so there 

are many, many of the lessons that we are going to be learning 

from this process, I think there is no way we can expect the severity of the catastrophe of this, the magnitude of this hurricane. That 

is the reality. 

This is the first time ever we go the Federal agencies, FEMA and 

NOAA before a hurricane, during the hurricane, and after the hurricane. The first time ever, both Irma and Maria. 

But even having those Federal agencies there, in both hurricanes, I mean, it got us like we never expected before. So, I hope 

a lot of those lessons are already learned, and we are facing a new 

hurricane season in just 55 days, with 3 percent of the island still 

without power, which means 43,000 families. 

Ms. KAPTUR. Congresswoman, I wondered what percent of the 

power had been restored. 

Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́ N. Three percent; 97 percent generation, 

but generation is not exactly the same as distribution, so, that is 

the reason we are talking about 43,000 families without power, but 

at this moment, it is zero, because the whole island is without 

power. 

Ms. KAPTUR. And also, I wanted to ask, what percentage, what 

is the population of Puerto Rico now, what percentage of the population left, that hasn’t come back home yet? 

Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́ N. The last numbers in Puerto Rico was 3.4 

million, but after the hurricane there have been several numbers 


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saying about 200,000 people that left the island. We still don’t have 

exact numbers regarding that. We are using most of the numbers 

through the Medicaid and Medicare, for the people who moved to 

Florida or the eastern coast of the States. 

We even know the numbers of families that are moving to live 

with relatives on the States, we don’t know yet how many of them 

are going to be returning to the island. So, that number, we should 

be looking at that number maybe this summer, because you’ve still 

got a lot of people who have power. But yes, a lot of people move, 

because they love their homes. 

It has been said by ARC Department that more than 100,000 

houses were impacted directly, and more than 250,000 homes need 

to have repairs, because they were severely impacted. So, we are 

talking about the biggest catastrophe that has been happening in 

the island—ever happened in the island. 

Mr. GRIFFITH. If I might chime in. As a part of my duties on the 

Energy and Commerce Committee, I went with the Representative 

down to Puerto Rico, and one of the things I noticed both in Puerto 

Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, that over time, we ought to be 

looking at from a money standpoint, is the actual telephone poles, 

if they were made up of composite material they would survive 

much better in the storm, than if they were made of wood. 

And so as we are spending money, instead of just restoring wooden poles, and Puerto Rico is too large to do it all at one time, but 

if we started over time putting in some money for, and I hope you 

don’t object to me jumping in, but I was just so moved that, you 

know, were those composite poles, where there was a much greater 

chance that they would be there, and it is a whole lot easier to not 

just get the power back up, but to get it to the houses. 

If all you are doing is stringing the wire on a pole that is still 

standing. If you have to replace the pole and the wire, it is much 

more difficult to get power back to the—particular the center of the 

island, but to the very more remote places. So, I just throw that 

in and I apologize. 

Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́ N. That is what happened. Actually, thank 

you for coming to the island. And thank you, both of you, because 

all the help that has been happening in the island, yes, it is because this Committee has been assigning the money. 

And I will tell you this, without any, you know, regret or remorse. The first responders for this catastrophe was the House assigning the money. I mean, the first allocation of funds came from 

this committee, in many areas. From different agencies, and the 

supplemental, the Omnibus, I mean, we continue to receive those 

kinds of funds, and even for the amendments that I was praying 

for, in terms of the full Federal match. 

Because as you may know, Puerto Rico had a different situation, 

a bankruptcy situation, so we don’t even have the 10 percent or the 

20 percent to match the Federal funds in the U.S. Army Corps, or 

the rest of the programs. 

So, with this kind of help, I mean, we need to put the island on 

the track. But again, we are patching up. We are still not doing a 

new system, a new generation system; that is another story here. 

But I mean, that is our number one priority. We are still in an 

emergency mode, and so this is the reason I put many of the floodVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:36 Oct 18, 2018 Jkt 032382 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\A382P2.XXX A382P2

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ing mitigation programs in some municipalities here, and even 

shore erosion, is on the list that I am submitting to the Committee. 

Ms. KAPTUR. Thank you. And I represent the largest Puerto 

Rican population west of New York City, in Lorain, OH, and one 

of my questions to you is, what would be the most important message I can share with them, when I go back to my district? 

We have sent many, many humanitarian shipments. What would 

be the—I am sure they know because if many of them are helping 

their own families, but, what advice would you have for the American people who still want to help Puerto Rico? What would you 

say to them? 

Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́ N. I mean, there still are many different 

NGOs, social organizations that are helping out with the health 

clinics on the island, helping, cleaning, painting, a lot of the infrastructure on the island. I mean, it is a lot, the recovery process 

itself. I mean, we are talking about roads, bridges that were 

washed away by rivers and the floods. 

So, I would say that they continue to help those relatives on the 

island, and that would be the first one. We still run generators to 

have the communication towers running, so even the cell phones 

are being used, because you have got a generator on the tower of 

the telecoms, in the center part of the island, because those areas 

are still without power. 

So we are not yet to that 100 percent, but we are working to that 

goal, and I do want to thank all the Federal agencies that are on 

the ground, and the State agencies, and even the states that have 

been sending different brigades to help us with the power grid. 

Ms. KAPTUR. I have one final question. And I appreciate the 

Chair’s indulgence here. I represent an organization called El 

Centro Unico in Lorain, OH. And my question is, would it be valuable to the people of Puerto Rico to have some sort of tele-medicine 

for children or adults who have flashbacks related to the hurricane? Do you have an issue with sort of post traumatic stress on 

the island because of what happened there? And I think that our 

region would very much be interested if it would be of benefit to 

link some of our medical assets to you. 

Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́ N. It will be. It will be. And that is something that we haven’t emphasized enough yet, because we are still 

in the recovery mode, but you are just right, there is a great 

amount of distress and mental illness after the hurricane. A lot of 

kids and elderly people are traumatized because of the hurricane. 

And so we are going to face, I mean, even the suicide rate went 

higher after the hurricane on the island, so those numbers are up 

to double. 

So, yes, that is something that we need to address, and something that we are looking forward to having some help, not just in 

the tele-medicine but even regarding the programs and the health 

care insurance in terms of the services they can receive from physicians on the island. 

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank you. Thank you very much, Congresswoman 

Gonza ́lez-Colo ́n. 

Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́ N. Thank you, because you have been helping and signing a lot of the letters we have been sending to our 

members, so thank you for that, Ranking Member. 


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Ms. KAPTUR. Thank you for your leadership. Thank you, Congressman Griffith. 

Mr. GRIFFITH. Thank you so much. 

Mr. FLEISCHMANN. I wish to thank the Ranking Member, Ms. 

Kaptur for those questions, very, very beneficial to us. And for 

those of you in the audience who might not know, especially our 

distinguished friend from Puerto Rico, Ms. Kaptur has just gotten 

a very high honor. She is the longest-serving female member of the 

United States House of Representatives in history, so it is a great 

privilege to serve with you in this capacity. 

Ms. KAPTUR. Thank you very much. It is a privilege to serve with 

you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Thank you. And to our members, thank you 

for your participation. This really helps us as we go through the 

2019 Appropriations process, and we are going to give very close 

consideration. 

As you know as appropriators we generally work very well together on both sides of the aisle, and appropriators, to perform our 

function. So, your input is much appreciated. 

With that, this hearing is adjourned. 

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