Title: Marking the four-year anniversary of the devastation of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands by Hurricane Maria.
Policy area: Emergency Management

Summary:
This concurrent resolution declares that Congress remains steadfast in its commitment to the people of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to assist in restoring the islands to their full potential and that Congress will not abandon U.S. citizens living there or on the U.S. mainland in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 51 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 51

Marking the four-year anniversary of the devastation of Puerto Rico and 
          the United States Virgin Islands by Hurricane Maria.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 20, 2021

 Ms. Velazquez (for herself, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Torres of 
  New York, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Soto, Mr. Sires, and Mr. Grijalva) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Marking the four-year anniversary of the devastation of Puerto Rico and 
          the United States Virgin Islands by Hurricane Maria.

Whereas, on September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico;
Whereas Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were still recovering from a 
        direct hit by Hurricane Irma when Hurricane Maria made landfall just 14 
        days later;
Whereas, on September 20, 2021, the people of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin 
        Islands living on the islands as well as those living on the mainland 
        will acknowledge the four-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria;
Whereas Hurricane Maria is the second deadliest storm in recorded United States 
        history after the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900;
Whereas the people of Puerto Rico living on both the mainland United States and 
        the island 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, 
        where millions of residents were left without power and basic services 
        for nearly a year, triggering physical and mental health, migration, 
        housing, and infrastructure crises;
Whereas four years since Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, the 
        electrical grid on the island remains unreliable leaving millions 
        without a secure source of power as they suffer intermittent brownouts 
        and blackouts;
Whereas thousands of people in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands still 
        have blue tarps over their roofs due to the impacts of Hurricanes Maria 
        and Irma;
Whereas hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans were uprooted and some have 
        relocated to the mainland United States as a result of Hurricane Maria;
Whereas hundreds of Puerto Ricans displaced by Hurricane Maria continue to need 
        housing assistance from the territorial and Federal Government due to 
        unaddressed damage to their homes on the island;
Whereas Puerto Rico's economic health continues to waiver as the preexisting 
        debt crisis was exacerbated by the impact of Hurricane Maria;
Whereas Hurricane Maria is the third most costly United States tropical cyclone 
        recorded, with damages estimated at $98,100,000,000;
Whereas the Federal Government has allocated almost $72,000,000,000 in disaster 
        relief funding to help the people of Puerto Rico and the United States 
        Virgin Islands rebuild from disasters since Hurricane Maria struck;
Whereas the official death toll from Hurricane Maria now stands at 2,975 victims 
        in Puerto Rico, although some academic estimates place the toll at 
        4,645;
Whereas many of the underlying vulnerabilities contributing to the massive death 
        toll on the Island, such as an underfunded healthcare system and a 
        shortage of medical physicians and specialists are still present;
Whereas the over 8,000 residents of the island municipality of Vieques, Puerto 
        Rico lost their primary hospital and to this date, do not have an 
        adequate and comprehensive healthcare facility;
Whereas the Federal Emergency and Management Agency (FEMA) Office of the 
        Inspector General found in a September 2020 report FEMA mismanaged the 
        distribution of commodities in response to Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 
        Puerto Rico;
Whereas it is known that FEMA lost visibility of approximately 38 percent of its 
        commodity shipments to Puerto Rico, worth an estimated $257,000,000;
Whereas the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of the 
        Inspector General found in an April 2021 report the Trump administration 
        created bureaucratic hurdles that delayed approximately $20,000,000,000 
        in hurricane disaster recovery and mitigation funds to Puerto Rico;
Whereas Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands continue to battle with climate 
        change, which has intensified tropical cyclones, rising temperatures, 
        coastal erosion, droughts, flash floods, among other climate events;
Whereas Puerto Rico continues to address and respond to other disasters, 
        including the 2020 earthquakes and the COVID-19 pandemic; and
Whereas millions of Puerto Ricans and Virgin Islanders still grapple with the 
        physical, emotional, and economic damages caused by Hurricanes Maria and 
        Irma: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) remains steadfast in its commitment to the people of 
        Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands (referred to 
        in this resolving clause as the ``U.S. Virgin Islands'') to 
        assist in restoring the islands to their full potential; and
            (2) will resolutely assure that it will not abandon the 
        plight of--
                    (A) the millions of citizens of the United States 
                living in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; and
                    (B) to the citizens of the United States who have 
                relocated from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands 
                to the mainland of the United States in the aftermath 
                of Hurricane Maria.
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