Political Quotes

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank both the chairman and the ranking member for their important work on this legislation. Mr. Speaker, a year ago, Hurricane Maria made landfall in my hometown of Yabucoa. The storm ravaged the island, and 115-mile-per-hour winds damaged hundreds of thousands of homes. The entire island lost power, and thousands would not regain electricity until 10 months later, the longest blackout in U.S. history. Sadly, as this crisis unfolded, the President and the administration repeatedly claimed the Federal response was going well. As evidence, they pointed to an artificially low death toll that for months suggested only 64 people had perished. We know now that the true toll is closer to 3,000 lost lives. We can never again allow an artificially low death toll to disguise how the local and the Federal Government failed American citizens. That is why I am pleased this bill contains my legislation, the COUNT Act, to establish Federal guidelines for disaster death counts. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired. Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman from New York an additional 30 seconds.”