David Price: “I thank my colleague for yielding, and I am pleased to rise in strong support of this supplemental appropriation. This…”

“I thank my colleague for yielding, and I am pleased to rise in strong support of this supplemental appropriation. This bill provides $4.7 billion for disaster assistance, including $3.3 billion for HUD's Community Development Block Grant program and $1.25 billion for emergency highway repairs. This funding will provide substantial help to the people of Puerto Rico, where devastating earthquakes have compounded earlier damage from Hurricanes Maria and Irma, as well as other States and territories still recovering from major disasters. I would remind colleagues that CDBG money from earlier disasters cannot be used for earthquake relief. We need this bill. The bill also provides targeted resources for Puerto Rico's school system, as well as nutrition assistance and tax relief for low-income families and small businesses. When it comes to disaster relief, we should be putting politics aside. There should be widespread consensus that the Federal Government should be there as an active partner in the recovery effort. Unfortunately, for far too long, the Trump administration has erected arbitrary barriers that have hindered Puerto Rico's recovery. They have contributed to desperate conditions to many places on the island. For example, HUD refused to provide more than $16 billion in already appropriated recovery funds for nearly 700 days.…”