•HRES 1376 IH 
Whereas, after the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, Hur-
ricane Maria is the second deadliest storm recorded in 
United States history; 
Whereas the people of Puerto Rico and the United States 
Virgin Islands living in both the mainland United States 
and on the islands of Puerto Rico and the United States 
Virgin Islands have shown an incredible and resilient 
spirit in rebuilding after their record losses; 
Whereas Puerto Rico faced one of the longest blackouts in 
United States history, during which millions of residents 
were left without power and basic services for nearly a 
year, triggering crises of physical and mental health, mi-
gration, housing, and infrastructure; 
Whereas, 5 years since Hurricane Maria made landfall in 
Puerto Rico, the electrical grid in Puerto Rico remains 
unreliable, leaving millions of people without a secure 
source of power as they suffer intermittent brownouts 
and blackouts; 
Whereas, due to the impacts of Hurricanes Maria and Irma, 
thousands of people in Puerto Rico and the United 
States Virgin Islands still have blue tarps over their 
roofs; 
Whereas, as a result of Hurricane Maria, hundreds of thou-
sands of Puerto Ricans were uprooted, and some Puerto 
Ricans have relocated to the mainland United States; 
Whereas, due to unaddressed damage to homes in Puerto 
Rico, hundreds of Puerto Ricans displaced by Hurricane 
Maria continue to need housing assistance from the terri-
torial government and the Federal Government; 
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•HRES 1376 IH 
Whereas the economic health of Puerto Rico continues to 
waiver as the preexisting debt crisis was exacerbated by 
the impact of Hurricane Maria; 
Whereas Hurricane Maria is the third most costly tropical cy-
clone in United States history, with damages estimated 
at $107,100,000,000; 
Whereas the Federal Government has allocated approximately 
$77,000,000,000 in disaster-relief funding to help the 
people of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Is-
lands rebuild from other disasters that have impacted the 
islands since Hurricane Maria; 
Whereas, in Puerto Rico, the official death toll from Hurri-
cane Maria stands at 2,975 victims, although some aca-
demic estimates place the toll at 4,645; 
Whereas many of the underlying vulnerabilities contributing 
to the massive death toll in Puerto Rico are still present, 
including an underfunded healthcare system and a short-
age of medical physicians and specialists; 
Whereas the residents of Vieques, Puerto Rico, which number 
more than 8,000, lost the primary hospital and do not 
have an adequate and comprehensive healthcare facility; 
Whereas, in a September 2020 report, the Office of the In-
spector General of the Department of Homeland Security 
found that the Federal Emergency and Management 
Agency (in this preamble referred to as ‘‘FEMA’’) mis-
managed the distribution of commodities in response to 
Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico; 
Whereas FEMA lost visibility of approximately 38 percent of 
its commodity shipments to Puerto Rico, worth an esti-
mated $257,000,000; 
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•HRES 1376 IH 
Whereas, in an April 2021 report, the Office of the Inspector 
General of the Department of Housing and Urban Devel-
opment found that the administration of President Don-
ald Trump created bureaucratic hurdles that delayed ap-
proximately $20,000,000,000 in hurricane disaster recov-
ery and mitigation funds to Puerto Rico; 
Whereas Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands 
continue to battle with climate change, which has intensi-
fied tropical cyclones, rising temperatures, coastal ero-
sion, droughts, and flash floods, among other climate 
events; 
Whereas Puerto Rico continues to address and respond to 
other disasters, including the earthquakes of 2020 and 
the COVID–19 pandemic; 
Whereas millions of Puerto Ricans and Virgin Islanders still 
grapple with the physical, emotional, and economic dam-
ages caused by Hurricanes Maria and Irma; and 
Whereas 5 years after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico again 
faces devastation following the landfall of Hurricane 
Fiona, leaving the over 3,000,000 residents of the island 
without power for multiple days, causing severe flooding 
that has destroyed several structures, and exacerbating 
conditions with the continuously fractured infrastructure 
and fragile healthcare system in Puerto Rico: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) remains steadfast in its commitment to the 
people of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin 
Islands to assist in restoring the islands to their full 
potential; and 
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•HRES 1376 IH 
(2) resolutely assures that it will not abandon 
the plight of— 
(A) the millions of citizens of the United 
States living in Puerto Rico and the United 
States Virgin Islands; and 
(B) the citizens of the United States who 
have relocated from Puerto Rico and the United 
States Virgin Islands to the mainland United 
States in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. 
Æ 
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