Trump Accuses 'Inept' Puerto Rico Politicians Of Using Hurricane Funding For Other Obligations
- 6 years ago
President Trump on Tuesday accused politicians in Puerto Rico of inappropriately using hurricane funding.
President Trump on Tuesday accused politicians in Puerto Rico of inappropriately using hurricane funding. "The people of Puerto Rico are wonderful but the inept politicians are trying to use the massive and ridiculously high amounts of hurricane/disaster funding to pay off other obligations," the president tweeted. "The U.S. will NOT bail out long outstanding & unpaid obligations with hurricane relief money!" Notably, Irwin Redlener, director of Columbia University's National Center for Disaster Preparedness, recently stated that Puerto Rico's recovery effort following last year's Hurricane Maria has actually been significantly underfunded. He reported via the Washington Post in early September that "none of the budget proposals winding their way through the House and the Senate has any funding specifically set aside for hurricane recovery in Puerto Rico." "Although nearly $14 billion has been appropriated for response efforts, it is dwarfed by the $139 billion needed for a full recovery that would make the island more resilient than it was a year ago," Redlener further noted. In late August, a report from George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health estimated that Hurricane Maria-related death toll in Puerto Rico is close to 3,000. Taken into account were people who died in the months following the disaster and the continued lack of essential goods and services.
President Trump on Tuesday accused politicians in Puerto Rico of inappropriately using hurricane funding. "The people of Puerto Rico are wonderful but the inept politicians are trying to use the massive and ridiculously high amounts of hurricane/disaster funding to pay off other obligations," the president tweeted. "The U.S. will NOT bail out long outstanding & unpaid obligations with hurricane relief money!" Notably, Irwin Redlener, director of Columbia University's National Center for Disaster Preparedness, recently stated that Puerto Rico's recovery effort following last year's Hurricane Maria has actually been significantly underfunded. He reported via the Washington Post in early September that "none of the budget proposals winding their way through the House and the Senate has any funding specifically set aside for hurricane recovery in Puerto Rico." "Although nearly $14 billion has been appropriated for response efforts, it is dwarfed by the $139 billion needed for a full recovery that would make the island more resilient than it was a year ago," Redlener further noted. In late August, a report from George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health estimated that Hurricane Maria-related death toll in Puerto Rico is close to 3,000. Taken into account were people who died in the months following the disaster and the continued lack of essential goods and services.