Date: 1989-10-04
Speaker: DE LUGO (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. let me begin by first thanking the Members of the Udall Codel that came to my home in our time of need. that flew down to St. Croix to assess the damage that had been done to this American community by Hurricane Hugo. I want to thank the gentleman from California [Mr. Miusm)a. who led the delegation. my good friend. the gentleman from New Jersey . my very good friend. the gentleman from New York (Mr. RANGEL. the gentlewoman from Maryland . the gentleman from Puerto Rico [Mr. FusTM. my neighbor from Puerto Rico. the gentleman from Samoa . my friend from across the other side of the world In the Pacific. American Samoa. and. of course. our former colleague. the Secretary of the Interior. Manual Lujan. I want to thank the gentleman from Puerto Rico [Mr. FUSTERI. the gentleman from California . the gentleman from California (Mr. LAooMARSINo. the gentleman from Texas . the gentlewoman from Maryland . the gentleman from American Samoa [Mr. FALE OMAVAEGAJ. and the chairman. the gentleman from Arizona . for taking a special order on Tuesday. September 26. to talk to the Members of this House and the people of our country about what they had seen in this U.S. territory. Mr. Speaker. I have been on St. Croix since the day after the hurricane: I remained there until this Monday. October 2. I flew in to St. Croix on Tuesday on a C141 which flew in before the St. Croix airport was open. and this plane was made available to us through FEMA and through the Department of Defense. I had contacted the day of the storm Robert Morris. the Acting Director of FEMA. I had also contacted Stella Guerra. the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Territories. or I should actually rephrase that and say that Assistant Secretary Stella Guerra actually contacted me. called me from Hawaii to offer the assistance of the Department of the Interior. For that I am very grateful. and the people of the Virgin Islands are grateful. too. I contacted Tom Wiener. chief of staff to Secretary !.uJan and Dave Gribbin. the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs. We also contacted Lt. Gov. Derrick Hodge while he was in the air. He had gone to Syracuse taking his daughter to enroll her for the new college year. and we told the Lieutenant Governor what was happening. He was flying back. He was going toward Miami. but we asked him to come and join us here in Washington so that we could fly down together on this aircraft. So we did that. First. we met on Tuesday. the morning after the hurricane at 8 a.m. with Grant Peterson. the Deputy Director of FEMA. and at 9 oclock the Lieutenant Governor. Derrick Hodge. and myself left for the Air National Guard base at Martinsburg. WV. and at 11 a.m. we were in the air along with the Under Secretary of the Interior. Frank Bracken. two members of the Office of Territories and International Affairs. with Gerald Conley. the Federal Coordinator for FEMA. and from FEMA also Stephen Singer and Curtis Carlton. 1 SBA official and approximately 15 communications specialists from FEMA. At 4 oclock that afternoon we arrived on St. Croix. and that night at 6 oclock. on Tuesday evening. communications for the first time since Hugo struck were established by the FEMA communications team with the outside world. The outside world was the United States. the mainland. We could communicate with Washington. but we could not communicate down the street in Christiansted. We could not communicate with Frederiksted. We could not communicate with the people living in the outlying districts of St. Croix. In fact. we could not communicate with anyone on the Island of St. Croix. We could not con)municate with the island of St. Thomas. the capital of the Virgin Islands. 40 miles away. There was no communication. I want to tell the Members what I found when I returned to my home. and I want to share with them what it was really like In this American territory. I have to tell them that I was not ready for the devastation that we found on St. Croix. I simply was not ready for it. and I do not think that anyone who has seen what happened to St. Croix. those who were there in the early days. was prepared for it. When we arrived in St. Croix and we went with a convoy. Just a group of cars. Into the town of Christlansted. I have never seen such devastation. The island of St. Croix. which just a few days earlier had been green and verdant. was brown as the walls of this Chamber. the entire island. There was not a speck of green. There was not a single green leaf anywhere on St. Croix. This was one of the things that struck me. I never thought that a lack of green could have such an effect on one. but no one would believe how we relate to nature until there is a dramatic change between the environment that one is accustomed to. There were 100yearold mahogany trees. these majestic giants. and they were picked up as though they were nothing. They were thrown across the road. For us to drive to Christiansted. it took a long time. because there were telephone poles down everywhere. There was wires down everywhere. The power lines were down. There were. as we entered Christiansted. rows of these trees that we have along the sides of the roads that were not completely down. [] 2110 And it was the eeriest sight. It looked as though cruisers or battleships had been laying off of Christiansted or St. Croix and shelling the island for months. because those trees that had not been uprooted. where they had been maybe 100 feet tall. they were maybe 12 feet tall. and they were ripped off. There were just shreds. It looked like a World War I picture of a forest that they used to battle. in and shell each other for a year or so. You saw all the buildings without roofs. Ninety percent of the buildings on St. Croix had major destruction. The people were in shock. You cannot conceive of what it is like until you have been in a community where there is no communication whatsoever as when you have been on an island. If you have a hurricane on the mainland. that hurricane passes. There is devastation. Help comes from across the State line. You can communicate with the States around you. You are not completely cut off. The little island of St. Croix. with some 60.000 people. was completely cut off for at least 48 hours. They did not know if any help was coming. There was no way to get word in or out except for some broadcasts that were being made by ham radio operators from boats lying off the shore. Why did certain things happen in St. Croix? God. I wish the press. which has written so much and said so much about St. Croix. rather than reaching for sensationalism had taken a moment to ask themselves certain questions and ask how any American community would respond when they are frightened. when they cannot communicate with each other If you are the chief of police and you try to reach your men on St. Croix after that storm. how do you reach them? Do you call them up? There is no telephone. There are no radios working. All of the radios that had been put in by FEMA and the others. they were not working because every relay station had been torn down. The only way that you could communicate with anyone was to send a runner. Ten percent of the police department came. That 10 percent. has anybody given them a commendation? Has anybody from the press said one word about the 10 percent that were on duty for 4 continuous days and nights. or what they did during those days? I will tell you that there are men in the St. Croix Police Department that I will walk anywhere with. Capt. Ohanio Richards showed such devotion and good judgment. Do you know what the police did? There was rioting. No. there was not rioting. there was only rioting reported in the press. There was looting. There is a vast difference. There was looting. which is condoned by no one. Who condones looting? But there was looting. I saw it. We have never had looting in the history of the Virgin Islands. But when I arrived on Tuesday. I saw the crowds. But they were not rioting. There were not mobs with machetes and guns. I am going to quote some of the things that were printed in the press. The press got so carried away. they showed groups looting on the television screen and they used certain words that convinced people looking that. my Cod. what is happening here? This little island of people. frightened. tourists in the Virgin Islands. frightened. Certainly they were frightened. You would be frightened. Anyone would be frightened. anyone. when you are placed in a situation where there is no power. there is no water. there is no food. there is no communication. there is no word that anyone knows anything about what is going on. Is anyone coming to help? What is happening? All you hear are rumors. The rumors go like wildfire. The mainland press only prints the rumors. The television. they show the rumors. They did not show the devastation or the problems that this community had. All they showed were people looting. Looting is a tragedy for any community. Is looting new after a storm? It is new in the Virgin Islands. but it is a common occurrence here on the mainland. When there is a hurricane that hits New Jersey. has there not been looting? When a hurricane hits Miami. has there not been looting? Was there not looting in Virginia without a hurricane just recently? But has the press played it up as though there were some sort of a racial attack upon innocent people? That is what it was played up as. I hold in my hand a copy of the New York Times. an article written by one Jeffrey Schmalz entitled "Roots of Looting on St. Croix Lie in Racial and Class Tensions." From the New York Times of September 26. I will quote to you just a little bit. Some private groups. including the Council on Hemispheric Affairs. said they believed that unemployment on St. Croix is as high as 30 percent. They said St. Croix is treated as "backwoods" by the United States. It has few paved roads. Well. my friends. for the record this American community that this leftwing thinktank is talking about happened to have an unemployment rate of between 2 and 3 percent. That is a rate that is considered by any American community as full employment. Roads. the Virgin Islands participates as a State under the Federal Highway Program. The roads on St. Croix are the envy of St. Thomas. to tell you the truth. But that is not so bad. Listen to this from the same New York Times. I woke up and heard Rastafarian drums right after the storm. said a 40yearold woman who lived on St. Croix 10 years and was at the airport on that Friday to flee to Miami with her two small children. Rastafarian drums. Drums in the hills. I have lived all my life in the Virgin Islands. My family has been in the Virgin Islands for over a century. I have never heard Rastafarian drums. But it is a picture that will terrorize people on the mainland. It was so good that the Miami Herald the next day reprinted this Schultz on page 1. Then we have the Chicago Tribune of September 21. The Chicago Tribune talks about "machete armed mobs." I tell you that there was looting. and that the looting came about I was told because the people were in fear. wondering where is the food going to come from. They did not know that the 10 percent of the police department that had been on duty had secured the warehouses of food and they had secured the armory where the arsenal is. And they secured a number of other key places. But they went into a grocery store to buy food after the storm. The people went in there and they started to buy the food. The next thing. people started. everybody wanted to be first. and they got into pushing and shoving. and the next thing. one of the managers of the grocery store said. "Look. all you just go ahead. help yourselves. take it. take it." because they are insured anyway. That was the beginning of the looting because the minute you tell people. "Take it. help yourself." they start grabbing and that sets it off. It set it off in St. Croix and it set it off in mainland community after mainland community. So we had looting. What did the police do? Well. it just so happens that the police did make arrests. But then what were they going to do with the people they arrested? The prison had been destroyed or suffered major damage so that the prisoners had gotten out from Hurricane Hugo. Also the detention center at Annas Hope had suffered major damage. So the police arrested the people that were looting. and then finally they gave up because they realized they had no place to put them and they let them go. The looting continued and it got out of hand. People were afraid. You can believe that in a situation like that you are afraid. The people that were on the island were afraid. that is a natural thing to be afraid in a situation like that. They wanted to know what help was coming. who was going to come to help them. But it is one thing to be frightened down there. it is another thing to be a member of the press with the responsibility of being a member of the great U.S. press and the powerful television media and your responsibility really is to give the people a balanced report of what is really happening in this U.S. territory. The temptation is to go for sensationalism. Well. unfortunately they went for the sensationalism because on September 20 the Miami Herald said that gangs were moving through the streets with rifles and frightened tourists begged for help. There were no gangs with rifles. There were people with rifles and guns protecting their property. but there were no gangs of machetewielding people going through the town. Time magazine. not to be outdone. listen to Time magazine: Anarchy in Paradise. When the skies cleared. locals armed with rifles. guns and machetes plundered the ravaged streets of Christiansted and Frederiksted. Gunfire could be heard throughout those cities. When you read all these things and they are telling you these things and they are showing you pictures of people looting. they convince you that you are seeing things that you are not seeing. Even worse. this is Time magazine again. "There was rioting by armed gangs of local residents." The Wall Street Journal. Alexander Cockburn. again they are quoting the same Larry Birns. director of Washingtonbased Council of Hemispheric Affairs as saying unemployment and underemployment hovered around 30 percent before the hurricane. You know. one thing we can all be proud of regarding Hurricane Hugo was the response of our country. I want to tell you that when the Governor requested of the President that the MP units be sent in. they asked me. "If there was only looting. why are you asking for UP units?" Because you would have done the same thing as a responsible leader on the mainland. If you only have 10 percent of your policy force. because the rest of the police force are with their families who have lost their homes. they are with their wives and children. looking after their familiesit is not something I am condoning. you should first be on dutybut they made the decision that they wanted to look out for their families because their families had no shelter. So they were human.. But the reality was that we had 10 percent of the police force and 15 percent of the National Guard. It went up to 25 percent when I came there. You say. "Well. if there was only looting. why did you ask for MPs?" Well. because with the type of reports that were circulating and the fear that was there. all you had to have was one incident and you would have seen a cycle begin that would have taken down that entire community. So the Governor and I asked the President of the United States to send professionals. men who would have restraint. men who had good Judgment. who could handle a situation like that. Those are the same type of men that we would have brought to a mainland community under those circumstances because the police had been on duty. that 10 percent were worn out. It is when you are overtired that you can make a mistake. So they came In. The President got the request from the Governor at 4 on Wednesday afternoon. and that was on September 20. The President declared it a disaster at 1:30 that afternoon. The Governors request for military police went in at 4 and at 7:30 for the Airborne at Fort Bragg to mobilize. At 7 the next morning. Brig. Gen. W. Bruce Moore and the advance party arrived at the airport on St. Croix. and for the rest of the day the rest of the troops were coming in. I am going to tell you something about these men and about this officer. Brig. Gen. Bruce Moore. You will not find better anywhere in the world. They caine in and they displayed such professionalism. They did not go out. were not occupying a U.S. territory. they were not invading. they came to help and they came and they worked with our local police department and with our National Guard unit. and order was the rule of the day. With all the dire predictions that have been made. not one person. not one white person. was killed. One young man did lose his life in the hysteria. He is a black youth who was slightly mentally retarded. well known in the community. never harmed anyone. Evidently he got into mischief. and a frightened pharmacist shot him dead. This young man that was shot dead. he ran errands for the president of the legislature. The president of the legislature is of Danish descent. In other words. I am telling Members that the president of the legislature of the Virgin Islands is white. That is how it is in the West Indies. We have a society where we do not judge everything by the color of your skin. The president of the legislature was speaking to me the day after. and I was telling him what had happened. He was shocked. because the day before he had been with the young man. However. that is what happens to human beings when hysteria takes over. That young man is dead. Many more could have been dead. The fierceness of Hugo alone. it is a miracle that hundreds were not killed in the Virgin Islands. However. they were not. That was the miracle of Hugo. We survived Hugo. Only the material things were destroyedour homes. My brother lost his home. He lost two houses. one that he lived in. and another that he rented. One completely. the other one. 50 to 60 percent damaged. Lots of people lost their homes. Many people lost everything they had. The price was a little time to focus on that. These are human beings in St. Croix. and they are Americans. Members should have seen the fury of Hugo. A person goes there and sees at the Hess Oil refinery huge steel tanks. crushed as though they were papier mache. The gymnasium at Central High School. that was used as a shelter for the people because it was made of concrete and steel. and it was a shelter from the storm. that was destroyed. The steel was twisted as though it were spaghetti. and the concrete just blown down. The people. at the height of the storm. were crawling on their bellies across that field. trying to get to the Central High School. That is what was going on In St. Croix. Did the press mention that? I visited Dr. Aubrey Anduze. who I had the great honor to serve with in the legislature of the Virgin Islands. We were together. He is a former president of the legislature. He Is a deacon of the Anglican Church. He is a dentist. He is a civic leader. He is a wonderful human being. He is educated. and he is black. However. he does not think of himself in racial terms. He thinks of himself as a West Indian. He and his son lost their home. totally. I went to their house. Their roof is gone. and he said. "Ron. my son and I. we are amazed that we are alive." because during the storm they thought they would stay in their bedroom. because this is a wellbuilt house of concrete. and during the storm the roof starts to give. and he and his son are trying to get out of their bedroom. and the door was stuck. Something was Jammed against the door. and they were up on the second floor. They were pushing. They are not kids any more. they are older. and they were pushing that door. and they finally got the door open and the roof comes crashing in. They would have been killed. So they go downstairs to the first floor. and as they get to the downstairs. this huge window blows out. and bam. and all the things that they had on the wall. things start blowing around and whistling around the room. They grab a mattress. put it against the window and for 6 hours they are holding that mattress against the window. The press does not tell readers about that. Hurricane Hugo. The might of Hurricane Hugo. It is like God saying. "Hey. you are spending too much time Just interested in material things. Maybe I will show you what my power is." He sure did show citizens what his power is. The helicopters of the National Guard that were put into the hanger were crushed. destroyed. The airport terminal. the control towers. both airportsdown. Buildings destroyed. People so frightened. No communication. no way of talking to your neighbor. No way of knowing what is happening to your son who lives in that part of the island. or your daughter who lives over here. or your cousin who lives over there. Or your child. who is staying with your cousin. That is how it was. We have to have compassion and understanding. We have to have responsibility and restraint when we report about a tragedy in an American community. I know TV has these programs that have become so vulgar and so sensational where they shout at each other. and the more common they can become. the more the public watches this. Is that what the news is supposed to be. that we simply make it sensational. make it sensational and do not mind at all this devastation that has been wreaked on these poor people in St. Croix? Nows the power of the mainland media. They are going to try to equal Hugo in the devastation that they wreak on this poor community. where not only the buildings have been destroyed. but the entire economy has been destroyed. Scare all the people on the mainland. because tourism is the lifeblood of this place. Let me tell Members the things that they said had been going on. then absolutely tell the people. But what was going on was looting. and what was going on was fear. and all the things I have been describing to Members. So much fear. If a person is a leader. and I come from a background of radio and the media. I know what the responsibility of broadcasting is. A person does not broadcast rumors until they are checked out to see if it is a rumor or if it is a fact. The New York Times. in an article they did on the early page. page 2 or so. they went into all kinds of hysterical overstatements. and they jumped to page 24. and they continued. and at the end of page 24. the last thing if a reader struggles through reading all that. then they reported at the end of the whole thing that the Federal authorities had stated that the reports that had come out of St. Croix were greatly exaggerated. Now I imagine that what I am saying is being carried by CSPAN. and I know that some Members who are watching me address the House may have been in St. Croix and were so frightened that they think there was shooting and that there were mobs with machetes. No. there was looting. and there was destruction. and there was a suffering community. and there were a lot of frightened people who wanted out and deserved to be able to come out. I say to them. "You came out because your country responded. and we helped to get the means to bring you out." There were shots all over the place? Yes. a lot of damage beyond Hugo has been put on this community. and we are going to have to rebuild it now. However. Mr. Speaker. I want to tell my colleagues some good things. I want to tell them. first of all. that our country looks very good in the Caribbean because of men like General Moore. because of naval officers such as Admiral Morlarity who is heading the operation down there. Admiral Moriarity. because of people like Colonel Frederick. who was a top aide to General Moore. because of people like Capt. Paul Hanley of the U.S. Navy. because of one of the greatest skippers that I met. skipper of a small Navy ship called the Groves. We in St. Croix will always remember the Groves and men who reflect their skipper. their commanding officer. the men of the Groves. Mr. Speaker. they are the way we would like to see all Americans be and all American sailors be. They were incredible. They came ashore. they volunteered. they helped in the cleanup. they helped in rebuilding homes. One of the men even helped in the delivery of a child. new life. after this storm. They did everything. Then there were the men of the Pensacola under the command of William Niethal. The Pensacola came there. It had nine berths. that is. hospital beds. that were needed. The Coast Guard did a fine job. They are. of course. under the Department of Transportation. but I tell my colleagues that I was telling Admiral Kelso who came down. Dick Cheney sent him down to look at the whole situation. and I told the admiral. I said. "You know Ive never seen anything like this." I said. "I just dont think that a few years ago the military could have done this. I think that a few years ago there would have been all kinds of interservice rivalries. but in this operation there was none of that." The Air Force. the Army. the Navy. the Coast Guard all working together to help this American community and. these poor people that were suffering. The President sent in plane load after plane load. Do my colleagues know what it is to send in 15 C5s? A C5 is the largest plane in the world. The Russians.have one like ours. It looks nice on the outside. but it is not quite as good on the inside. not quite the quality of the C5. Fifteen C5s loaded pvith food and supplies. relief material for this American community. Fortyone C141s. 25 C130s. 2 portable airport towers and navigational aids. a portable field hospital. a complete hospital. 850 pallets of food from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. and then on top of that. another 4 C5s loaded with food and supplies for - this community. Some local people did well. too. I want to tell my colleagues a moment about a radio stationtalk about media? Media should take a look at real media. a radio station called WSTA. Mr. Speaker. I started out with that radio station when I got out of the service. That was a long time ago. over 30 years ago. It was a little 250watt station when I started out with it. It is considerably more than that today. However. Mr. Speaker. this station stayed on the air continuously. 24 hours a day. for the past 2 weeks. They did not broadcast a single commercial up until maybe 2 or 3 days ago. My colleagues have never heard anything like this. They were on the air during the storm. They were the only thing in St. Thomas. Our stations were knocked off the air. Mr. Speaker. this was a big handicap in St. Croix. but this station In St. Thomas stayed on the air. and people were calling in during the storm saying. "My roof is collapsing. The windows are blowing in. Im afraid. Im afraid." Mr. Speaker. my colleagues have never heard anything like a hurricane. the wild howling. and powerful blowing down of things. and continuously roofs flying through the air. and they said. "Im afraid. I got to get out of here. Ive got to get out of here." Mr. Speaker. the announcer was saying. "No. dont. Go into the bathroom in your house. Hide there. Thats the best place. or go by your sink. and go under the sink. and hide there. and stay there." and they would do it. Mr. Speaker. one family tried to cook something during the storm. and the stove blew up. and they got burnt. and they called into the radio station saying. "My mother is in agony. Shes been burnt. what can we do because they cant get the ambulance to us?" And another person called in. and it was a nurse. and she said. "Have your mother put her hands under the cold water." and she told them what to do. how to wrap it. and how to take care of her mother and the others until the ambulance got there. My colleagues. it was incredible. I mean this is incredible. This station. there is no question in my mind that this station is responsible for the saving of who knows how many lives. Who knows how many people did not panic and run out into the street during the storm because of this station staying on the air with Lee Carle. and Addie Ottley and Brownie. All of them. they deserve our special commendation. WAPA: That is the public utility. I always used to beat up on them. Well. let me tell my colleagues that they have earned my admiration. Director Alberto BrunoVega and Gregory Willocks. a Cruzan who heads the operation in St. Croix. He is as good as anybody. He is terrific. and they are getting back the power. They are putting it back together. They have already gotten the desal plants working. They have already got water out into the community. They are bringing this community back. And VITELCO. I never had a good word to say about themthis is the telephone companynever until now. because they are doing a terrible Job. The Alabama and Georgia Power and Light Hugo Express: they are down there helping us. They were flown in from Alabama. and from the other side of the world Governor Ada has sent 21 experts on restoring power on lines because they are accustomed to dealing with typhoons out in the Pacific. And he sent from that American territory in the Pacitic to the American territory in need in the Caribbean this help. Why does the press not tell that story? Why does it not tell the story of Americans in Guam helping Americans in the Caribbean? Is it not sensational enough? No. That is passed on. They are not talking about St. Croix anymore. That is finished. They have moved on to other things. you know. bearded women and God knows what else. but we have to live with it. Thank God that we have a President. a Secretary of the Interior. a Secretary of Defense. who have responded to the needs of this American community. I am convinced that we are going to be all right in the Virgin Islands. We are going to be all right in St. Croix. The Army Corps of Engineers is down there helping us to rebuild. I want to tell Chairman ANDERSON. he called me. we missed each other. There is Colonel Cox of the Army Corps and Captain Torres of the Army Corps. Lt. Gov. Derek Hodge. Virgin Islands National Guard Bob Moorhead. who worked tirelessly around the clock on St. Croix. Everything you did on St. Croix you had to do like you were doing it five or six times before you could get it done. because there was no communication. The FAA. Castleberry. FAA Atlanta. who helped us to restore those airports so that the planes could come in. There was Sandy Bathon. the FAA tower manager of St. Croix. Terry Highfield of Pan American. general manager. St. Croix. Mike Navarro. American Airlines general manager. St. Croix. and the Zenon Construction Co.. and I will tell you about many more in the week and months ahead. What a wonderful thing it was to have one of the Presidents Cabinet officers come down on the Sunday after the storm. Manuel Lujan. We all know Manny Lujan. we who have served with him here. It is typical of him to do that. because he is a caring person. He is a warm person. There are people who are capable of being put into high positions and not lose their humanity and retain their caring for other people. and Manny Lujan is such a person. Some of the press do not like that style. They have already started to beat up on him. but we like him because he cares about people. And Chairman Mo UDALL. responding to my request and dispatching Codel Udall. led by GEORGE MILLER. CHARLIE RANGEL. coming down to see us. He has always been helpful to us. There was FRANK GUARINI. BEVERLY BYRON. her remarks during the special order a few days ago. beautiful and caring. So I want to say to all my friends here in the Congress that we will need your help. You know. we have a lot of legislation on the books for disasters like this. We have the FEMA legislation. but unfortunately the rebuilding of the buildings and the putting on of the power and restoring water. that is the easiest part of it. but there is nothing on the books to help to rebuild a totally devastated economy. and that is where St. Croix is. So I will need your help. The U.S. Territory of the Virgin Islands will need your help. The people of St. Croix will need your help. and I am convinced that wewill get your help. because that is the kind of country we are and that is the kind of Congress we are and that is the kind of people you are. We are going to come out of this in St. Croix better than ever. because we are going to be the type of community that we should be in the West Indies. in the Caribbean. a community where we are going to live together. and we do not Judge each other by the color of our skins. The vast majority of the people of the Virgin Islands are black. And how do I get to be their delegate to Congress? I run in a free election every 2 years. because we do not judge each other by the color of our skin. We like each other based on what we know about each other. whether a person is fun or kind. truthful and we can count on them. Really. on that score. we are way ahead of you here on the mainland. we really are. So I say to the press. if you really want to do something. come down in a few months and see how we are living on St. Croix. I was at a press conference today over at the National Press Club with a group of business leaders from St. Croix and St. Thomas who were led by Commissioner Eric Dawson and Leona Bryant. the director of tourism. and you had representatives of the chamber and of the hotel industry. St. Thomas is coming back so fast. St. Thomas did not have the devastation of St. Croix. St. Thomas had selected areas that were very hard hit. They were talking about. "Come down to St. Thomas. We are going to give you guaranteed hotel rooms." That is. they guarantee that you have a good time at that hotel or you pay nothing. Sounded like a good deal to me. But I was thinking. what do you say about St. Croix. because we suffered so much damage. Why would you want to go to St. Croix? I will tell you why you want to go to St. Croix. If you want in a few months to go down there. you are going to meet the people. because the island of St. Croix is going to be a very close community. close community. not closed. but close. We are going to share many things. It will be like it was I think back in the fifties when it was great to go to a West Indian or Caribbean island and meet the people. You do not go and have this plastic vacation like you have so many places today. You meet the people. You find out what a West Indian is really like. You find out that I like that person. You find all the qualities. all the warmth that is there. You have a great time. You learn about a great part of the world. You will learn about an American community that is. well. very different. It is not there Just to make a lot of money. It is there. well. to protect our values and to have a really great life. So I hope you will come and I hope you will help me and help our people rebuild from the devastation of Hugo.