Bill Nelson: “a recent study from Harvard suggested that the actual death toll in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria could be…”

“a recent study from Harvard suggested that the actual death toll in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria could be as much as 70 times higher than what was previously reported. In fact, the study, which was released 2 weeks ago, suggests that the death toll could actually have been in a range from 800 all the way up to close to 8,000 deaths, and that is compared to the official FEMA count of 64. Recently, I was with the former Governor and now father of the present Governor, Pedro Rosello. He shared with me that a George Washington University study is underway to more accurately count the deaths resulting from the hurricane, but there is no reason why there should be such a discrepancy among U.S. citizens in these reports. The latest findings are just another stain on the Federal Government's overall response to the ongoing disaster in Puerto Rico, which has not been too stellar. The people of Puerto Rico are our fellow American citizens. They have a right to know exactly what happened on the island as a result of not just one massive storm but the second one which hit as well. They have a right to know exactly how many of their friends and neighbors lost their lives as a result of this disaster and exactly what the Federal Government is doing to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. That is why Senator Harris of California and I have introduced a bill to create a better way to track the number of deaths caused by a disaster.…”