WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), along with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and four of his colleagues on the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, sent a letter to HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) to once again request that the committee hold hearings to assess the challenges facing the health and educational systems in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Murphy and Warren were joined by U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) in sending the letter, which comes more than 16 months after Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico. The HELP Committee had not held any hearings on the islands' recovery since the hurricanes made landfall in September 2017.

“More than 16 months after Hurricane Maria, the Committee so far has failed the more than 3 million U.S. citizens who reside in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands,” the senators wrote in their letter.

Echoing their previous requests, the senators’ letter noted that Hurricane Maria has proved to be the deadliest natural disaster in recent U.S. history and highlighted the ongoing difficulties faced by the health and educational systems in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

“[W]e have a responsibility to exercise our oversight responsibilities to ensure that our fellow U.S. citizens struggling with the aftermath of enormous catastrophes receive the resources and assistance they need to recover from the hurricanes and to rebuild in a long-term, sustainable way,” the senators continued. “We must find out what went wrong in the preparation for and recovery from this disaster, and make sure that federal and state agencies are better prepared for the next natural disaster.”

In the months since Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands Murphy has worked on the following:

  • In December 2017, Murphy was part of a bipartisan group of senators that called on the committee to hold hearings on the islands’ recovery. A month later, 186 organizations sent a letter echoing this request.  
  • Murphy traveled to the island in January 2018 to hear firsthand from residents.
  • In March 2018, 6 months after the Hurricane, Murphy called on Senate leaders to work with Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Roselló to formulate and pass an emergency bill to rebuild Puerto Rico and restore stability to the island. 
  • In September 2018, the senators reiterated their request after the committee failed to hold hearings. 
  • Murphy has held several meetings with the Puerto Rican community in Connecticut to receive feedback on federal relief efforts. 
  • As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Murphy helped secure $2.7 billion for school systems to recover from 2017 natural disasters and for school districts in Connecticut to accommodate displaced students. 
  • He urged the Federal Emergency Management Agency to extend Transitional Shelter Assistance for families in Connecticut displaced from their homes in the wake of Hurricanes Maria and Irma.

In Puerto Rico, the senators noted, there are signs that the opioid crisis is picking up momentum, while a survey of health centers on the island found that patients were likelier since the hurricane to have suicidal thoughts or attempts, alcohol or other substance use disorders, and poorly managed chronic conditions. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, medical facilities continue to face serious financial burdens associated with the continued cost of hurricane recovery, while infrastructural repairs to educational facilities on the islands are still ongoing.

The full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Chairman Alexander: 

We write to request again that the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) hold hearings to assess the challenges facing the health and educational systems in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. 

On December 21, 2017, three months after Hurricane Maria, a bipartisan group of nine HELP Committee members wrote you to ask for hearings on these issues. A month later, 186 organizations set you a letter echoing this request. Then, on September 25, 2018, shortly after the one-year anniversary since Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, eight HELP Committee members wrote you again to request the hearings. Still, the Committee has not convened a single hearing on any aspect of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands' recovery, and there appear to be no plans yet for the Committee to do so. More than 16 months after Hurricane Maria, the Committee so far has failed the more than 3 million U.S. citizens who reside in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

These hearings are beyond overdue. Hurricane Maria has proved to be the deadliest natural disaster in recent U.S. history. Since our last request for hearings in September 2018, a number of developments have only underscored the need for the HELP Committee to conduct oversight of pressing issues confronting Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, even as the challenges mentioned in our previous letters remain critical. 

Puerto Rico's health care system and public health situation both show substantial ongoing difficulties. There are signs that the opioid crisis in Puerto Rico is picking up momentum. A survey of community health centers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands found that 70% reported that their patients were likelier since the hurricane to have suicidal thoughts or attempts, alcohol or other substance use disorders, and poorly managed chronic conditions. Due to the cap on Medicaid funds for Puerto Rico, Medicaid patients on the island are not receiving lifesaving hepatitis C medications. A recent study by researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Utah found that the federal government responded less quickly to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico than to recent hurricanes that struck the mainland, and that "the insufficient response received by Puerto Rico raises concern for growth in health disparities and increases in adverse health outcomes.

The health care system in the U.S. Virgin Island also continues to face challenges. Medical executives recently told local legislators that U.S. Virgin Islands hospitals, while making "varying degrees of progress," faced serious financial burdens associated with the continued cost of hurricane recovery. The Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute at the Schneider Regional Medical Center, for example, is still out of commission "due to lack of funding for repairs." Key community health facilities on St. John also "remain inoperable" as a result of the 201 7 hurricane season. Both facilities are still in the process of constructing additional modular facilities to meet the territory's pressing medical needs. 

In addition, the education systems in the territories remain burdened in the wake of the hurricanes. Infrastructural repairs to educational facilities in the U.S. Virgin Islands are still ongoing. Meanwhile, the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) faces dramatic cutbacks and tuition increases, even as it has struggled to receive federal assistance, and all 11 UPR campuses are now at risk of having their accreditation revoked. According to recent reports from Puerto Rico's Secretary of Education, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has plans to cut $1 billion in aid for Puerto Rico schools. Furthermore, the Department of Education inefficiently and ineffectively distributed disaster relief funds to institutions of higher education affected by the 2017 hurricane season, developing a process by which Puerto Rican institutions-facing the second largest power blackout in world history-were required to fill out burdensome online applications in order to receive aid. The Department then failed to adequately respond to congressional questions about their aid distribution process-further justifying oversight hearings from the HELP Committee. 

These examples represent a small sample of the pressing issues within the jurisdiction of the HELP Committee that are affecting Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. As our previous letters have pointed out, we have a responsibility to exercise our oversight responsibilities to ensure that our fellow U.S. citizens struggling with the aftermath of enormous catastrophes receive the resources and assistance they need to recover from the hurricanes and to rebuild in a long-term, sustainable way. We must find out what went wrong in the preparation for and recovery from this disaster, and make sure that federal and state agencies are better prepared for the next natural disaster. 

Thank you for your consideration of this request. 

Sincerely,

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