119-hres724

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 724 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
H. RES. 724

Recognizing the eighth anniversary of Hurricane Maria's destruction of 
 Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 September 16, 2025

 Mr. Hernandez (for himself, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Huffman, 
Mr. Neal, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. 
 Soto, Ms. Pou, Mr. Torres of New York, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. 
Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. 
 Pallone, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Larsen of Washington, and Mrs. Ramirez) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
 on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

 RESOLUTION

Recognizing the eighth anniversary of Hurricane Maria's destruction of 
 Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands.

Whereas, on September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall near Yabucoa, 
 Puerto Rico, as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 
 155 miles per hour, when Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin 
 Islands were still recovering from Hurricane Irma's impact just 14 days 
 prior;
Whereas the official death toll in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria is above 
 4,000, making it the second deadliest storm in United States history;
Whereas Hurricane Maria caused a catastrophic failure of Puerto Rico's 
 electrical grid, producing the longest blackout in United States history 
 that required over 11 months to recuperate, and left millions of Puerto 
 Ricans without power or basic services;
Whereas communications were crippled as 95 to 96 percent of cell sites in Puerto 
 Rico were out of service, and 48 out of 78 municipalities had 100 
 percent of cell sites down, with outages persisting months later;
Whereas Hurricane Maria triggered more than 40,000 landslides, with the rural 
 communities at the mountainous interior of the island being hit the 
 hardest;
Whereas critical water infrastructure and dam safety was threatened, 
 particularly the Guajataca Dam that prompted evacuation warnings 
 affecting 70,000 residents;
Whereas the Puerto Rican agricultural sector suffered 80 percent losses, 
 totaling $780,000,000, with the destruction of thousands of plantain, 
 banana, and coffee farms;
Whereas Hurricane Maria has been one of the most expensive natural disasters in 
 United States history, with damage estimates as high as 
 $115,200,000,000;
Whereas Hurricane Maria caused massive displacement and migration, with an 
 estimated 4 percent of the population, or 130,000 people, leaving Puerto 
 Rico in the aftermath;
Whereas Hurricane Maria disproportionately devastated vulnerable groups, 
 including seniors, children, and individuals with chronic medical 
 conditions, limiting their access to medical care, emergency services, 
 medication, and dialysis machines, and all 47 of Puerto Rico's dialysis 
 centers lost power, causing critical disruptions in patient care;
Whereas Hurricane Maria ignited a severe mental health crisis across Puerto 
 Rico, as the island's suicide prevention hotline experienced a 246-
 percent increase in calls from individuals who had attempted suicide, 
 and the suicide death toll climbed by 29 percent from the previous year;
Whereas Federal support has been significant, but long-term efforts are still 
 needed: while the Federal Emergency Management Agency has allocated over 
 $23,400,000,000 in public assistance to Puerto Rico's recovery, 
 bureaucratic delays and bottlenecks in disbursement have slowed 
 reconstruction and prolonged hardship for affected communities;
Whereas the Department of Housing and Urban Development has allocated more than 
 $20,000,000,000 in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery 
 funds, but oversight from an April 2024 report by the Office of the 
 Inspector General of Housing and Urban Development identified serious 
 bottlenecks and delays in the release and use of those funds;
Whereas, in the direct aftermath of Hurricane Maria, States and municipalities 
 of the United States mobilized to assist Puerto Rico in the form of 
 personnel, equipment, and relief centers; New York deployed more than 
 450 utility and relief workers; Florida established disaster relief 
 centers for arriving evacuees; and States across the Nation facilitated 
 aid through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact;
Whereas nongovernmental organizations provided essential humanitarian 
 assistance, including the Red Cross, which distributed more than 
 11,000,000 meals and 2,700 generators, and organizations such as Direct 
 Relief, which supplied over $70,000,000 in medical supplies to hospitals 
 and clinics on the island;
Whereas the Puerto Rican diaspora communities in the mainland United States were 
 instrumental in relief, advocacy, and long-term recovery efforts, 
 raising millions of dollars from personal donations, coordinating supply 
 shipments, and sheltering and employing displaced communities;
Whereas the people of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, both on 
 the islands and across the mainland, have demonstrated extraordinary 
 strength and resilience in the face of enormous hardship;
Whereas the underlying vulnerabilities that contributed to the humanitarian 
 crisis in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria continue to exist, including 
 an underresourced health care system and a scarcity of medical 
 specialists; and
Whereas Puerto Rico continues to suffer massive, islandwide power outages 
 frequently, especially after Hurricane Fiona in 2022 and Hurricane Erin 
 in 2025, underscoring the ongoing infrastructural fragility and the 
 urgency of more resilient reconstruction: Now, therefore, be it
 Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

    (1) commemorates the eighth anniversary of Hurricane Maria, 
 honors the memory of those whose lives were lost, and stands 
 with the survivors in Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin 
 Islands who continue to endure its lasting impacts;

    (2) urges the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
 Administrator to expedite the full disbursement of critical 
 recovery funds, recognizing that every day of delay prolongs 
 hardship and hinders Puerto Rico's and the United States Virgin 
 Islands' reconstruction; and

    (3) calls upon Congress and the Administration to 
 prioritize resilient infrastructure investments in Puerto Rico 
 and the United States Virgin Islands, including modernizing its 
 energy grid, strengthening health care capacity, and ensuring 
 equitable disaster recovery for future natural disasters.
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