We need to fight to get Puerto Rico out of the overseas definition in terms of tricare prime.

I want to thank all the personnel from the VA that helped us out during this hurricane season.

thank you to our veteran population and to all of you that are in the audience today.

the VA and the Congress just approved 11.1 million dollars to mobile units and medical service including transportation for the areas impacted by the hurricanes

Thank you, all of you for being here today and thank you Chairman for your time, and I yield back.

Thank you, Chairman Wenstrup and Chairman Roe for allowing me, as the only Member representing 3.4 million American citizens in Puerto Rico, to have a voice on behalf of our veterans.

I hope the allocation of funds that were included in the third supplemental are going to be enough for all the VA clinics and the National Cemetery.

Thank you for your leadership, allowing us, and the small businesses in Puerto Rico to recover.

the treatment for the territories need to be equal as any other state.

We need to give the people of Puerto Rico, the people of the Virgin Islands, what they as U.S. citizens deserve so they can have an appropriate healthcare system.

It is fair that taxpayers would want to know, that the process is being managed transparently and responsibly.

I also want to thank and take the opportunity to welcome Governor Ricardo Rossello and Governor Kenneth Mapp for their presence here, who have worked tirelessly for the last month and a half in an effort to bring some sense of normalcy to…

Congressman Serrano and myself filed bill H.R. 4251 to amend the Stafford Act that will provide for all the resources to have a more resilient and efficient energy system after the disaster.

We should not expect Puerto Rico to have a first-class economy when we treat Puerto Ricans as second-class citizens.

But there is much more left to do, in both the short- and the long-term recovery and reconstruction of the islands.

How are you going to treat the territories as a foreign country and then impose those taxes to our companies after two of these major hurricanes.

we need, as Congress, to make many changes in a lot of Federal laws to provide for those services to the island.

the greatest heroes working this project are the people of Puerto Rico.

I think it is important for Congress and all Members from the House and the Senate to actually go there.

That is the reason we need to look beyond immediate response for bridges, power grid, and roof tarps under the Corps of Engineers.

I have a voice, but I don't have a vote. That is the reason this hearing is so important for Puerto Rico.

We still have 70 percent of our island without power, 20 percent without running water, and 20 percent without access to networks.

We have a big problem here, and the treatment the territories are receiving in Medicaid. That is the bottom line of the problem.

I think it is most important to acknowledge and recognize that under PROMESA, we are looking forward to have the tools to improve our economy.

we think we should improve the way Puerto Rico businesses are making contracts directly for their government.