On the recordOctober 3, 2017
Mr. President, I am the Senator from Florida, along with my colleague Marco Rubio. We, of course, have been at the forefront of this terrible tragedy that is going on in Puerto Rico, and I want to comment on that. By the way, speaking of bipartisanship, there is a good example. Senator Rubio and I, when our State was hit by Irma, spent 3 days, going around together, showing that we were shoulder to shoulder trying to help Floridians overcome the tragedy that had just befallen them. We dished out food together. We went and surveyed the floods. We went into the poor, little cities. We went and thanked university students who had rescued the elderly, the frail, when they were abandoned. We went all across the State. The day after the storm, we went first into the Keys to see the destruction there. Senator Rubio and I have been joined at the hip. When it comes to looking at what is happening in Puerto Rico, it is pretty obvious. Last week, a week had passed since the storm. In fact, the supplies were stacking up, but they were stacking up in the ports. They were not able to get out into the interior of the island. The two of us were pretty strong in our words; that you have to get the most capable organization in to do that when in fact it is almost like combat conditions, and that is the U.S. military. Finally, Wednesday night of last week, they sent me a three-star general who started to get it organized.…





