Stacey Plaskett

Governor Rossello has informed that the recovery will require at least $95 billion just in the case of Puerto Rico.

The help Puerto Rico has received to date from Congress and the Administration has made a huge difference, and I know my people are grateful for this.

I would like to commend the efforts of both the Congresswoman from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Ms. Plaskett, and the Congresswoman from Puerto Rico, Ms. Gonzalez-Colon, for their efforts here in Congress.

All of us, both here in Congress and democratically elected at the territorial level, must put aside politics in order to get down to real solutions.

We owe our fellow citizens living in these islands, and all taxpayers investing hard earned money in recovery, the answers to these questions.

I thank the gentlewoman so very much for her moving words. I know that this is an issue that is very close to her heart, being of Haitian-American descent, and we are grateful for her leadership on this, being supportive of the letters to…

It is with great honor that I rise today to anchor this CBC Special Order hour. The Congressional Black Caucus, under the leadership of the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Richmond), is committed to sharing with this Congress, as well as…

I want to echo the sentiments of my colleague, Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, in that much of the issues that we are facing have much to do with the disparity in funding that the Territories have received before the hurricane occurred.

I will remain hopeful yet vigilant in my work to see that Congress delivers on the promises to support the Virgin Islands and the Territories.

The President and leaders in Congress have committed to Americans in the Territories that they will receive the support they need.

American citizens in the U.S. Virgin Islands are suffering and questioning if their government is concerned about them.

It is long past the time for the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to conduct oversight hearings on the slow and ineffective response to the devastation.

What I cannot agree on is the need for a hearing on shark finning today instead of a hearing on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

We can all agree that sharks play an invaluable role in our ecosystem.

And will your budget reflect the magnitude of these hurricanes?

I believe regulating through no action relief letters is poor governance although necessary at times for expedient flexibility.

I just wish Mexico would pay for it instead.

I believe that a lot of that money, those billions of dollars that are being spent on that wall... could be better used to wall ourself from the drug trafficking.

The Virgin Islands and places like me are facing enormous murder rates, enormous disruption to our communities because of this drug trafficking.

As you talked about success, HIDTA initiatives identified over 8,800 drug trafficking organizations.

They are really making a difference in our communities.

The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, or HIDTA, was created to provide assistance to Federal, State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies.

It has been your testimony and studies that we have been looking at in the Office of Management and Budget has found that major Federal regulations have produced annual benefits to the U.S. economy of between $269 billion and $872 billion.

I think that for areas like your own and I know in the Virgin Islands that those fines mean that there is less money to actually do the work that needs to be done.

The practice we are discussing today is really very unremarkable: enforcement actions by government agencies.