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From YouTube: Councilwoman María Quiñones-Sánchez Speaks on the Humanitarian Crisis in Puerto Rico 9-28-2017
Description
From the Stated Meeting held Thursday, September 28, 2017:
Councilwoman María Quiñones-Sánchez (7th District) speaks about the humanitarian crisis facing the 3.4 million American citizens in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.
Read her resolution urging quick federal action to bring relief to the island: http://bit.ly/2fSk0n6
A
I
recognize
Councilwoman
yeah,
Thank
You
council.
President
I
want
to
thank
all
of
my
colleagues
who,
over
the
last
week,
have
reached
out
personally
email
text
and
particularly
those
of
you
who
attended
the
parade
on
Sunday,
councilman,
Johnson,
oh
well,
councilman,
green
and
Councilwoman,
Greenlee,
Jim
and
Councilman
Greenlee
and
everyone
this
afternoon
at
five
o'clock,
the
mayor
is
hosting
a
press
conference
with
the
congressional
delegation
congressman
Brady,
Foyle
and
Evans,
along
with
Senator
Casey,
and
we
have
gotten
a
public
statement
by
senator
Toomey.
Why
I
am
puzzled
and
bewildered
by
public
policy
through
Twitter
I.
A
Do
want
to
recognize
that
this
morning,
through
Twitter,
the
president
is
issuing
a
10-day
waiver
of
the
Jones
Act,
which
is
one
of
the
pieces
of
legislation
we'll
be
speaking
to
at
five
o'clock.
But
it
is
not
enough.
The
naval
hospital
that
is
being
shipped
to
to
Puerto
Rico
and
it's
part
of
the
relief
efforts
is
still
nine
days
away.
So
giving
us
a
ten
day
reprieve
is
is,
is
not
sufficient
and
I
want
to
thank
Governor
wolf,
who
also
joined
us
on
Sunday
and
made
a
personal
pledge
of
$15,000.
A
The
mayor
made
a
pledge
of
five
thousand
dollars
for
local
relief
efforts.
The
situation
in
Puerto
Rico
is
dire.
Let
me
repeat
that
the
situation
in
Puerto
Rico
is
dire.
Federal
officials
who
oversaw
the
Katrina
relief
efforts
and
New
Orleans
say
it
is
much
more
devastating,
and
at
this
point
and
the
relief
efforts
they
had
tens
of
thousands
of
boots
on
the
ground
from
the
federal
government.
We
are
nowhere
near
this,
as
the
president
has
acknowledged.
A
Puerto
Rico
is
surrounded
by
an
ocean,
a
big
big
ocean
two
oceans
actually,
but
not
going
to
correct
that
at
this
point,
and
it's
not,
we
does
not
have
access
through
roads,
and
it's
for
this
reason
that
the
10-day
waiver
is
is
not
sufficient.
What
the
group
of
with
our
congressional
leadership
and
and
knee
those
PAP
our,
which
is
led
by
representative
Cruz
Vasquez
and
myself,
and
many
leaders,
including
former
councilman
Ortiz,
who
will
join
us
this
morning
with
we
in
our
relief
efforts.
What
are
we
calling
for
is
an
immediate,
immediate
allocation.
A
Fema
is
still
in
its
assessment
before
it
can
issue
a
report
before
it
can
develop
a
budget
before
it
can
ask
for
an
allocation
that
is
two
to
three
weeks
away.
That
is
not
enough,
and
so
we're
asking
for
an
immediate
FEMA
allocation
for
relief
efforts
in
in
Porto
Rico
I
will
note
that
the
US
Virgin
Islands
do
not
have
to
buy
by
the
Jones
Act.
So
we
are
literally
45
minute
both
drive
and
they
have
abilities
that
we
don't
import
Oh
Rico
to
activate
release.
A
We
are
asking
the
US
Army
of
Engineers
to
immediately
oversee
the
dam
that
has
been
breached
and
those
of
us
who
remember
Katrina
the
dangerous
situation
that
that
creates
and
the
possible
relocation
of
70,000
people.
We
want
them
to
take
leadership
in
that
we
want
the
deployment
and
the
activation
of
thousands
of
emergency
responders,
and
we
want
to
break
the
bottleneck
that
exists
both
at
the
airport
and
on
the
Naval.
Base
I
know,
there's
discussion
that
there's
products
at
the
port
that
can't
get
to
folks
folks
I
need
to
put
this
in
context.
A
At
the
port.
We
have
a
million
liters
of
water.
There
are
3.4
billion
people
on
the
island.
What
is
on
the
port
is
not
sufficient,
and
so
that
is
why
it
is
important
that
we
get
an
immediate
release
of
the
Jones
Act,
not
for
10
days,
but
at
least
a
year,
which
is
what
our
Senate
counterparts
are
requesting:
Schumer
and
Casey,
and
our
Puerto
Rican
congressional
delegation
of
velázquez,
Gutierrez,
Satriano
and
Darian
Soto
are
requesting.
This
is
dire.
Yes,
we
are
going
to
be
whether
it's
coordinated
through
FEMA
are
not
bombarded
by
puerto
ricans.
A
Once
commercial
flights
are
up
and
going
there's
only
10
commercial
flights
a
day
as
they
air
tower
is
not
functioning.
So
I
want
to
again
recognize
all
of
my
colleagues
for
co-sponsoring
this
resolution
for
understanding
the
dire
needs
that
exist
on
the
island
of
Puerto,
Rico
and
I
can
say
that
the
American
citizens
on
Puerto
Rico
need
immediate
action
and
everything.
No
one
is
doubting
the
the
level
of
commitment
of
the
folks
who
are
on
the
ground.
A
I
think
what
we
we
are
lacking
is
the
leadership
to
say
that
what
we're
doing
on
the
ground
is
not
enough.
So
thank
you
all.
Thanks
for
the
folks,
every
single
nonprofit
leader,
every
city,
we
have
young
people
folks
on
colleges.
Everybody
wants
to
help
right.
Now
we
don't
have
the
capacity
to
store
stuff
to
ship
stuff,
even
our
own
Salvation
Army.
Through
the
efforts
of
the
mayor
and
the
work
we're
done,
we
were
doing.
A
We
finally
got
some
relief
things
shipped
yesterday,
so
we're
not
even
prepared
to
take
stuff
to
be
able
to
ship
to
Puerto
Rico.
So
I
want
to
thank
all
of
you,
and
particularly
the
congressional
delegation
for
their
support
and
standing
with
150,000
Puerto
Ricans
in
Philadelphia
and
the
400,000
Puerto
Rico,
the
Puerto
Ricans
that
are
here
in
Pennsylvania,
Thank
You.
Council
president.
Thank
you.