Lincoln Diaz-Balart: “I want to start by first recognizing one of our own, who has been a superb representative for Puerto Rico in these very…”

“I want to start by first recognizing one of our own, who has been a superb representative for Puerto Rico in these very difficult times. You rarely see somebody with the talent, the energy of the representative of Puerto Rico here in Congress. Miss Gonzalez-Colon has been, frankly, a hero, and I just wanted to mention that, because she has really made all of us understand the situation, and she has done so with great dignity and great passion and great brilliance. I just had to say that. Mr. Speaker, let me first thank the chairman for being incredibly accessible and engaged. Florida has gotten hit rather hard, as you know. This bill totals $36.5 billion. $18.67 billion of that goes directly to FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund, and it also ensures that our National Flood Insurance Program has the resources that it needs to pay the claims, also an important grant food and aid loan eligibility to Puerto Rico, which is crucial. So far, Mr. Speaker, Florida has received $740 million for assistance for individuals through FEMA, and is working through over 608,000 applicants. Think about that. As we continue to recover, again, I look forward to continue working with the chairman, who has been phenomenal. Specifically, we are going to have to deal with the agricultural impact of this storm, and again, particularly on the citrus industry, that has been devastated by this storm. This is an important bill. It is an important bill.…”