Puerto Rico Is Still A Disaster Zone. Contact Congress Now.
By Debra Schrishuhn and Mike Fox, for Donna, Mike H, Judy, Dan, Janis, Amos, Dr. Bill, Bryan, and Kim, your PDA National Team
People In Puerto Rico Need Help!
Send An Email & Call Congress
On September 20th, hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico. Now, almost a full month later, fewer than 10 percent of Puerto Ricans have power, and over a third still need clean water. Food shortages are rampant. The death toll—now preventable deaths—is rising. Sadly, a new poll shows that 75 percent of Republican voters think the federal government’s response is “just about right.”
The federal government’s Orwellian spin is working overtime to hide the true extent of this disaster—originally natural, but now man-made—and the ongoing mass suffering taking place because of government inaction and ineptitude.
Estimates of the storm damage range from $45 to $90 billion in Puerto Rico alone, according to Moody’s Analytics, and will require a sustained federal commitment and presence on the island where 3.4 million American citizens live—more Americans than reside in Wyoming, Vermont, and Alaska combined.
Do the math—it’s not enough.
Now Congress has just passed an additional $36.5 billion in disaster relief (with 69 Republicans voting against it) to be parceled among Hurricane Harvey victims in Texas and the Gulf Coast, to Hurricane Irma victims in Florida, to wildfire victims in California, and to Hurricane Maria victims in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The 10-day waiver to the archaic Jones Act, which slows and increases costs of supplies reaching Puerto Rico, has expired and the government refuses to renew the waiver.
This is unacceptable.
Call your congress members at 202-224-3121 and email them right now using our Action Network tool.
Tell them not to forget our fellow Americans suffering in Puerto Rico. Give our citizens the robust financial and human resources needed to save lives today and help the island recover. Repeal the outdated Jones Act that prevents help from reaching the island efficiently and economically.
Don’t let them forget about Puerto Rico’s suffering.
In solidarity,
Debra Schrishuhn and Mike Fox, for Donna, Mike H, Judy, Dan, Janis, Amos, Dr. Bill, Bryan, and Kim, your PDA National Team
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