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We must unite in facing tragedy |
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October 18, 2017 |
By U.S. Congressman Raul Labrador
As most of you know, I was born in Puerto Rico
and lived there until I was 13. After that, my
mom and I moved to Las Vegas, where we lived for
the next four years. While I’ve spent my adult
life in Idaho and raised my family here, I will
always have strong connections to Puerto Rico
and Las Vegas.
They will always have a special place in my
heart. So you can imagine how I felt after both
places were beset my horrible tragedy: Hurricane
Maria and the worst mass shooting in modern U.S.
history.
There are important similarities between both
events. They both showed the heart and bravery
of first-responders in times of crisis. They
also showed how everyday Americans can come
together and help each other in the worst of
circumstances.
Sadly, they also showed how Democrat
politicians, liberal activists and the biased
media exploit tragedies for partisan gain, using
a false “us-versus-them” mentality to score
political points, at a time when reflection,
unity and compassion are essential.
This is such an important issue, I will be
devoting two e-newsletters to it. The first,
today, will be about Puerto Rico, while the
second will be about Vegas.
In the case of Puerto Rico, the 3.4 million
residents of the island are suffering from the
worst hurricane to strike the commonwealth in 85
years. During the storm, electricity and
municipal water supplies were knocked out across
Puerto Rico.
Even now, almost a month later, about 85 percent
of the island remains without electrical power,
while about 40 percent lack access to drinkable
water.
Those impacted include my own family and
friends. I reached out to them, in the wake of
the storm, and worked behind the scenes to
provide support and help in any way possible.
And last Thursday, I voted for, and the House
approved a “supplemental” bill to make sure
Puerto Rico has funds to aid in the recovery.
While many partisans and media outlets accuse
the Trump Administration of not doing enough,
they fail to recognize the unique logistical
challenges of distributing goods on a
mountainous island ringed by a single
Interstate.
Colonel Michael Valle, an Air Force officer who
was born and raised in Puerto Rico and is
leading relief efforts, said claims that the
federal response is inadequate are “just not
true.” Valle told the Huffington Post, “As a
Puerto Rican, I can tell you that the problem
has nothing to do with the U.S. military, FEMA,
or the DoD (Department of Defense). The aid is
getting to Puerto Rico. The problem is
distribution.”
Speaking during the early recovery efforts,
Valle noted a shortage of truck drivers to
transport goods waiting at ports. Impassable
roads, lack of fuel, communications outages and
the need for drivers to care for their own
families contributed to the shortfall.
“We need to keep doing what we’re doing,” Valle
said. “It’s going to take the resource of time.”
Jenniffer González-Colón, who is the non-voting
representative of Puerto Rico in Congress, has
made similar points.
While clearly disagreeing with some of the
president’s rhetoric, she told USA Today,
“Everything that the president said that he was
going to send to the island, it’s getting there.
The resources are there. The help is there … He
instructed all his cabinet members to treat
Puerto Rico as a state, in terms of this
hurricane. I mean, that kind of instruction is
important to have access to all those programs.”
In contrast to the false media narrative, the
President has sent all the resources and
assistance he said he was going to send to the
island and instructed his cabinet to treat the
island as they would treat a state in terms of
access to all relief programs. That is an
unprecedented level of assistance.
As Puerto Rico rebuilds, we need to be positive
and constructive. That’s why it was so
disappointing to see San Juan’s liberal mayor,
Carmen Yulín Cruz, exploit the “us-versus-them”
mentality of her party’s base and the media. She
took repeated jabs at President Trump, telling
him “you are killing us with the inefficiency”
and calling him the “Hater in Chief.”
She also went on TV wearing a T-shirt with the
needlessly-provocative words, “Help us, we are
dying.” She has become a media darling with a
dangerously deceptive message about the relief
efforts.
Representative Luis Gutiérrez, an Illinois
Democrat, went further, saying the Trump
Administration was doing a “disgraceful job.”
In fact, Gutiérrez said he was angry that
private sector and charitable responses from
Christian and other relief organizations were
better than the government’s response. That is
the twisted thinking of a politician. In a
situation like this, the government’s role
should be to supplement private sector and
charitable organizations, not to replace them.
We should be thankful for the work of private
sector groups and charities; we should never
demean them, like Gutiérrez did.
The media’s amplification of Mayor Cruz and
Representative Gutiérrez’s claims have many in
Puerto Rico believing their government is
uncaring, despite the most robust disaster
response the island has ever seen. The
Democrats’ politicization of every aspect of
American life doesn’t do the victims of these
tragedies any good. In fact, it distracts from
getting them help and leads to a sense of
hopelessness.
The truth is that the massive federal response
began on September 17, three days before the
storm hit, with FEMA and other federal personnel
in place in Puerto Rico. The day after Maria’s
September 20 landfall, the USS Kearsage and USS
Oak Hill were supporting search and rescue
flights, and food, water, generators and other
supplies were being distributed.
On September 22, 7,000 federal personnel were on
the ground in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
Islands. By September 26, more than 10,000 were
providing aid, according to FEMA. A full array
of federal agencies is participating in the
recovery.
The military alone has 13,600 personnel
responding to Maria, including 6,000 National
Guardsmen and women from 21 states.
The Pentagon reports impressive progress.
Sixty-five of 67 hospitals are now open; 64
percent of the population has cellular service;
and 78 percent of gas stations are open.
Don’t misunderstand me, there is still a lot of
work remaining to be done. What is happening in
Puerto Rico is a genuine humanitarian crisis and
some parts of the island are in dire straits.
Nine of 11 major roads and bridges were washed
out by the storm and will need to be rebuilt.
Some communities might be without power for six
months. Doctors are seeing a growing number of
patients with conjunctivitis and gastritis
brought on by contaminated water and poor
hygiene.
The extent of the damage and the final injury
count and death toll won’t be known for some
time.
But we must remember in times like these that we
are all Americans. We must unite in the face of
tragedy, stop pointing fingers and comfort the
afflicted. |
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