Nydia M. Velazquez: “As we speak today, the people of Puerto Rico continue to suffer. Currently, 200,000 families and businesses, 16 percent…”

“As we speak today, the people of Puerto Rico continue to suffer. Currently, 200,000 families and businesses, 16 percent of the island, remain without power. That is not 6 days after the hurricane or 6 weeks. We are talking about 6 months. For those still without power in Puerto Rico, they are now living through the longest blackout in modern history. While parts of the island are recovering, it is the rural, far-flung portions of the island that continue to suffer the most and where aid has been slowest to reach. For example, if you go to my hometown of Yabucoa, where Hurricane Maria made landfall, it looks like the hurricane struck yesterday. Two-thirds of the residents living there are without electricity. For decades, Yabucoa's baseball stadium stood as an important symbol of that town's community. The people there love baseball, and the stadium was a community anchor, a symbol of the town and its people. Those who live in Yabucoa are proud of their baseball diamond, as this town fielded Puerto Rico's team in the 2017 Junior League World Series. Today, the baseball stadium sits empty, now a symbol of how the people of Yabucoa struggle daily to survive. Meanwhile, basic services are hard to come by, with hospitals relying on generators to provide lifesaving treatment. Older, rural parts of Puerto Rico continue to suffer immensely. Thirty miles east of Yabucoa's coast sits the island of Vieques.…”