On the recordJanuary 16, 2019
My second amendment to this Supplemental Appropriations Act increases emergency food assistance for the Marianas. As I explained earlier, our islands were struck by not one, but two typhoons last year, one right after another--Typhoon Mangkhut and Super Typhoon Yutu, the second most powerful storm ever in U.S. history. Within the first 30 days after Yutu, our local food stamp program had incurred costs of $10.2 million. That money helped families replace the food they lost in the storms when their homes lost roofs and water poured in and electricity and refrigeration were cut off. Over 40,000 people, out of our total population of 54,000, received help in that first month, according to the Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service. H.R. 268 replaces that first month's expenditure with an appropriation of $10.2 million. I thank Chair Lowey for recognizing the need, but beyond that first month of emergency, more is needed. The Marianas is not part of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP. Instead, we receive a block grant from the Federal Government. With the block grant, there is no reserve, as with SNAP. When disaster strikes, not only is money used up faster than planned on the front end, future costs also rise until families get back on their feet. Madam Chair, I have no official projection of the ongoing costs, because Agriculture employees are furloughed.…
