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IV 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. RES. 1337 Lauding Virgin Islanders for their perseverance, grit, and tenacity through major disasters attributable to Hurricanes Irma and Maria and Members of Congress for their support in accruing funding to support the Virgin Islands of the United States through these disasters. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 9, 2022 Ms. PLASKETT submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure RESOLUTION Lauding Virgin Islanders for their perseverance, grit, and tenacity through major disasters attributable to Hurri- canes Irma and Maria and Members of Congress for their support in accruing funding to support the Virgin Islands of the United States through these disasters. Whereas Hurricanes Irma and Maria, both Category 5 storms with wind gusts of up to 178 miles per hour at their centers, impacted the Virgin Islands of the United States within two weeks of each other on September 6 and September 20, 2017, and caused significant destruc- tion to roofs, structures, foliage, and aerial power and phone lines leading to territorywide communications and power blackouts; VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Sep 09, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1337.IH HR1337 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 1337 IH Whereas the sweeping destruction to homes and public facili- ties including hospitals, schools, fire stations, utilities, and ports on St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John effec- tively stranded the entire population for weeks, leading to Virgin Islanders running boats between the islands of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico to assist with transpor- tation of people and goods; Whereas Virgin Islanders became heroes delivering food and medical supplies while also leading cleanup initiatives, and remained strong in the face of the daunting task of rebuilding their lives; Whereas Members of Congress, including leadership and com- mittee chairs, came in large numbers to the Virgin Is- lands to provide insight and support to the local govern- ment and people of the territory; Whereas the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer- gency Assistance Act (‘‘the Stafford Act’’) provides dis- aster assistance to States, Tribes, local governments, and certain private nonprofit organizations, and also declares a State to include the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; and Whereas Members of Congress have shown enormous support and willingness to ensure that the people of the Virgin Islands receive the necessary funding provided through Acts of Congress and support through the Stafford Act to facilitate and expand the scope of recovery: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) lauds Virgin Islanders for their persever- 2 ance, grit, and tenacity through major disasters at- 3 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Sep 09, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1337.IH HR1337 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 1337 IH tributable to Hurricanes Irma and Maria upon the 1 5-year anniversary of these disasters, and Members 2 of Congress for their support in accruing funding to 3 support the Virgin Islands through these disasters; 4 (2) has heard with gratitude of the acts of pride 5 and care exhibited by the people of the Virgin Is- 6 lands during these disasters and throughout the on- 7 going recovery from these disasters; and 8 (3) affirms its commitment to support the peo- 9 ple of the Virgin Islands as they continue to strive 10 for a full and resilient recovery from these disasters. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Sep 09, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR1337.IH HR1337 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS