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IV 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. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. NADLER, Mr. TORRES of New York, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. SOTO, Mr. SIRES, and Mr. GRI- JALVA) 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; VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC51.IH HC51 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HCON 51 IH Whereas Hurricane Maria is the second deadliest storm in re- corded United States history after the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900; Whereas the people of Puerto Rico living on both the main- land United States and the island have shown an incred- ible 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, hous- ing, and infrastructure crises; Whereas four years since Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, the electrical grid on the island remains un- reliable 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 up- rooted 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 terri- torial and Federal Government due to unaddressed dam- age to their homes on the island; Whereas Puerto Rico’s economic health continues to waiver as the preexisting debt crisis was exacerbated by the im- pact of Hurricane Maria; VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC51.IH HC51 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HCON 51 IH 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 Is- lands 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 under- funded healthcare system and a shortage of medical phy- sicians 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 Sep- tember 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 approxi- mately 38 percent of its commodity shipments to Puerto Rico, worth an estimated $257,000,000; Whereas the Department of Housing and Urban Develop- ment (HUD) Office of the Inspector General found in an April 2021 report the Trump administration created bu- reaucratic hurdles that delayed approximately VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC51.IH HC51 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HCON 51 IH $20,000,000,000 in hurricane disaster recovery and miti- gation 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 dam- ages caused by Hurricanes Maria and Irma: Now, there- fore, be it Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 1 concurring), That Congress— 2 (1) remains steadfast in its commitment to the 3 people of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin 4 Islands (referred to in this resolving clause as the 5 ‘‘U.S. Virgin Islands’’) to assist in restoring the is- 6 lands to their full potential; and 7 (2) will resolutely assure that it will not aban- 8 don the plight of— 9 (A) the millions of citizens of the United 10 States living in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Vir- 11 gin Islands; and 12 (B) to the citizens of the United States 13 who have relocated from Puerto Rico and the 14 U.S. Virgin Islands to the mainland of the 15 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HC51.IH HC51 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HCON 51 IH United States in the aftermath of Hurricane 1 Maria. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HC51.IH HC51 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS