House Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Senate Finance Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) released the following joint statement today in response to the Trump administration’s release of a woefully inadequate supplemental funding request for hurricane affected areas, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands:
“Today’s supplemental funding request is a dereliction of duty by the Trump administration to American citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands that need our help. This woefully inadequate funding request does not provide the necessary resources required to properly respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
“Furthermore, the Trump administration’s request does absolutely nothing for the more than 1.6 million Americans in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands that depend on Medicaid for the care they need in the face of this overwhelming devastation. The Trump administration should immediately provide additional funding and extend a one-hundred percent funding match for Medicaid in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands just as we did in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
“There is simply no excuse for the Trump administration’s negligence during an ongoing crisis. American citizens will continue to die needlessly as a result of this inadequate funding request from the Trump administration."
