Tell Congress: Save lives in Puerto Rico. Fully fund disaster relief and rebuilding

Petition to the U.S. Senate: "$600 million for food stamps is not enough. Reject Trump's approach to Puerto Rico and fully fund critical disaster relief, reconstruction funding, physical and mental health care, food assistance expansion and long-term climate resilient solutions." Add your name: Trump refuses to sign a hurricane disaster relief bill if it includes significant funds for Puerto Rico. He made it clear he will reject any bill for hurricane-stricken states and territories that includes more than $600 million solely for food assistance in Puerto Rico, even though even Senate Republicans agree that the island needs far more to rebuild.1 After Hurricane Maria crushed Puerto Rico, killed more than 3,000 Americans, and left millions more without electricity and reliable access to food and water, Donald Trump floated the idea of never rebuilding the island. Now, Trump is trying to make that idea a horrific reality.  We cannot let him get away with blocking aid to Americans in desperate need. Trump's intransigence is already driving a wedge between him and congressional Republicans – we need to ramp up the pressure to get Puerto Rico the help it needs. Tell the Senate: Save lives in Puerto Rico. Fully fund disaster relief and rebuilding. Click here to sign the petition. With a new hurricane season approaching, Trump's policies will cost even more lives. Already, the Puerto Rican government cut more than 1 million people off of food assistance. And in a recent speech in Florida, Trump lied again about how much aid Puerto Rico already received. Instead of serving all Americans, Trump is trying to pit disaster survivors against each other with vicious lies.2 The manager of the world-champion Boston Red Sox even refused to visit the White House over Trump's Puerto Rico stance.3 Puerto Rico is the sticking point holding up a major disaster relief bill that would help Texas, Florida and Georgia as well – and Donald Trump is the only person standing in the way. Democrats are standing strong and recently voted down a bill that only had $600 million in food stamps for Puerto Rico. Some Republican senators want more funding than Trump. But their proposals are significantly less than what is needed to rebuild the island, provide continuing relief after the disaster of Hurricane Maria and improve Puerto Rico's ability to cope with devastating climate change.4 Trump's callous take on Puerto Rico is costing lives. He caused massive delays in aid efforts even as the elderly were dying due to the lack of medicine or electricity for ventilators and dialysis, then later tweeted that Puerto Ricans “want everything to be done for them.” Trump also accused San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz of criticizing the disaster response because Democrats put her up to it, insisted that Wall Street be able to profit off loans to Puerto Rico and said the disaster wasn’t a “real catastrophe” like Katrina during a trip where he tossed paper towels to desperate people like he was a game show host. We need to turn the pressure up on Trump – and make sure corporate Democrats and Republicans continue to press to fully fund Puerto Rico's recovery. Tell the Senate: Save lives in Puerto Rico. Fully fund disaster relief and rebuilding. Click here to sign the petition. The crisis in Puerto Rico is decades in the making and the result of a colonial approach to the island. First, it was the exploitation of the sugarcane industry. Then, Congress turned Puerto Rico into a tax haven for manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies. When Congress allowed those tax breaks to expire, the Puerto Rican economy collapsed and its government had to take on additional debt. Washington then imposed an unelected, Wall Street-backed “fiscal control board” to institute harsh austerity measures in response to that debt. Puerto Ricans are American citizens – but have been treated like colonial possessions to be exploited by large corporations and then told they cannot manage their own affairs. They had no voice in Congress when our government was boosting oil and gas companies and are suffering now that climate change has supercharged storms and devastated the island. Now, Donald Trump is willing to let people die to serve his agenda. We can't let that happen. Tell the Senate: Save lives in Puerto Rico. Fully fund disaster relief and rebuilding. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/puerto-rico-disaster-relief-bill?t=10&akid=32533%2E3130208%2EzTqCET - Heidi Hess, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Haley Bird and Phil Mattingly, "Stalled disaster relief package shows Congress-White House split," CNN, May 9, 2019. Kathryn Krawczyk, "Trump keeps telling the same whopper about Puerto Rico," The Week, May 9, 2019. Devin Cole and Betsy Klein, "Red Sox manager to skip White House visit, citing Trump's Puerto Rico hurricane response," CNN, May 6, 2019. Bird and Mattingly, "Stalled disaster relief package shows Congress-White House split." More information:  House Approves Disaster Relief and Puerto Rico Aid Over Trump’s Opposition - The New York Times House passes Trump-opposed disaster-relief bill with more funding for Puerto Rico - The Washington Post Trump off on Puerto Rico funding by $50 billion: Weekly Fact Check

Stand with Sen. Sanders: Ask your Senators to Rebuild Puerto Rico

While most of us sat down to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families, countless Americans in Puerto Rico were still going without power or running water.¹

The Trump administration’s response to Puerto Rico’s crisis reeks of blatant disregard for the lives at stake. Even as the island slowly recovers, Wall Street vultures are moving in trying to profit off the privatization of valuable infrastructure.

Sen. Bernie Sanders has a bold plan to fix all this. Flanked by progressive champions like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, he just introduced a $146 billion “Marshall Plan” to rebuild Puerto Rico – putting struggling people first and giving them the resources needed to build a more sustainable future.² 

Stand with Sen. Sanders: Rebuild Puerto Rico. Click here to sign the petition.

The Trump administration has requested inadequate aid relief – with Texas and Florida getting first dibs and Puerto Rico getting the scraps.³ Trump appears to have spent more time in Twitter feuds with the mayor of San Juan and throwing supplies to suffering people in Puerto Rico like a bad game show host than doing anything to help.⁴

In contrast, Sen. Sanders’ bill would give Puerto Ricans the help they need to rebuild by:⁵

• Tackling the immediate humanitarian crisis. The bill would remove logistical obstacles to providing the help needed now and help the farms and local food producers that were obliterated in the storm. It would also clean up the environmental risks created by the storm, make health care cheaper and more available to Americans in Puerto Rico, and ensure that federal aid does not put Puerto Rico any further in debt.
• Banning privatization and promoting debt relief. Sanders’ plan would put control over the future of Puerto Rico in the hands of the people there, not Wall Street hedge funds and bank-backed control boards that demand austerity measures. It would prevent using the disaster as an excuse to privatize the electrical grid, water utilities and roads in order to profit from these once-public goods and push for full debt relief.
• Rebuilding better. Under Sanders’ bill, the Puerto Rican power grid would be modernized and eventually draw 70 percent of its power from renewable sources. The plan also calls for a massive investment in VA hospitals and clinics; public schools, colleges and childcare centers; and infrastructure from roads and bridges to schools, public transit, clean water sources and broadband.

Every voice supporting this bill puts pressure on Congress to act – and exposes the sad Trump response to a real and ongoing crisis.

Stand with Sen. Sanders: Rebuild Puerto Rico. Click here to sign the petition.

The crisis in Puerto Rico is decades in the making and the result of a racist, colonial approach to the island. Sugarcane industry exploitation was the start. Then, Congress turned Puerto Rico into a tax haven, suddenly allowed those tax breaks to expire and plunged the island into economic depression and debt. Now, Wall Street hedge funds have bought that debt and use that power to impose harsh austerity measures that line their own pockets.⁶

Puerto Rico does not need more colonial micromanaging. Sen. Sanders’ bill puts control back in the hands of the people of Puerto Rico and gives them the resources they need to rebuild sustainably and prosperously. We need to get behind it in a big way.

Stand with Sen. Sanders: Rebuild Puerto Rico. Click below to sign the petition:

https://act.credoaction.com/sign/sanders_puerto_rico?t=8&akid=26241%2E3130208%2Eh_xh5V

- Murshed Zaheed, Political Director, CREDO Action

Add your name:

References:

1. David Caplan and Joshua Hoyos, “As Puerto Rico continues to recover from Maria, many residents turn to charities for a Thanksgiving meal,” ABC News, Nov. 24, 2017.
2. Jeff Stein, “Bernie Sanders to unveil a $146 billion ‘Marshall Plan’ for Puerto Rico,” The Washington Post, Nov. 28, 2017.
3. Ibid.
4. Alexia Fernandez Campbell, “Trump to Puerto Rico: your hurricane isn’t a ‘real catastrophe’ like Katrina,” Vox, Oct. 3, 2017.
5. Office of Sen. Bernie Sanders, "Sanders, Colleagues Unveil Legislation to Rebuild Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands," Nov. 28, 2017.
6. Juan Gonzalez, “Puerto Rico’s $123 billion bankruptcy is the cost of U.S. colonialism,” The Intercept, May 9, 2017.