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WHAT: Take Action For Puerto Rico! Press conference
WHO: Hispanic Federation President Frankie Miranda
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL)
Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY)
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY)
Carmen Feliciano, Executive Director, Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration
Testimonials from Puerto Rico
WHEN: Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 11 a.m. ET
WHERE: Capitol Hill at Senate Swamp, located near Constitution Ave NE and First St NE
WASHINGTON -Exactly five years after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, the entire island was once again without power in the face of yet another severe weather emergency, Hurricane Fiona. Hispanic Federation will hold a press conference near the U.S. Capitol to commemorate the lives lost and launch 2022 Take Action For Puerto Rico! Campaign (see here for 2021 release and press conference). The campaign calls on the Congress and the Biden administration to treat U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico equitably by ensuring a just and sustainable recovery, ending systemic discrimination against Puerto Rico in all federal programs, and returning democratic self-governance to Puerto Rico.
Hurricanes in the Caribbean are nothing new, but Hurricane Maria’s ferocity—super-powered by the realities of climate change—exposed the vulnerability of an island with a decaying energy infrastructure, a weak social safety-net, an unfair relationship with the United States, and a profound financial crisis. Fiona shows what we all knew - that after five years, the island is nowhere near recovered or prepared for recurring natural disasters. The island residents are exhausted from five years of repeated hardship, including regular flooding caused by normal rain conditions, severe earthquakes, rising unemployment, high poverty levels, austerity, political instability, and a global pandemic. Their suffering was compounded by the previous administration’s politized response in its attempt to hamper recovery efforts.
Although the island is slowly gaining access to the billions of dollars in federal funds allocated for the island’s recovery, much more needs to be done. The TA4PR! campaign has not stopped working to ensure that those funds are used effectively to help the most vulnerable, create a resilient future that meets the island’s climate goals, end the systemic discrimination against the island in all federal programs, and to lift the voices of those directly impacted by the ongoing disasters, beginning with Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
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