Vice President Mike Pence will visit Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands today, accompanied by the Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón (R-PR), and Rep. Stephanie Plaskett (D-USVI).
Before arriving at both islands, Vice President Pence visited Orlando, accompanied by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-FL), and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), and gave some remarks about the recovery efforts.
Vice President Pence stated that he and his wife “will have the privilege to travel to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to lend a hand, to listen to those in needs, to deliver the same message that our President and our First Lady delivered just two days ago, our message will be simple: We are with you. We stand with you, and we will be with you every step of the way until we see the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico say, levanta.”
During his speech, Vice President Pence reported that “11.5 million meals, 8 million liters of water have been delivered thus far and more are being delivered every day. Every day more federal officials step ashore in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. And at this moment, as we learned tonight, there are more than 15,000 dedicated federal officials on the ground reaching out.”
Vice President Pence shines some light on the progress that is being made in Puerto Rico, he stated that “I’m here to report, my fellow Americans, that we are making progress as we heard again tonight. Commercial flights back to normal. Three-quarters of Puerto Rico’s gas stations up and running; more than two-thirds of supermarkets are open for business. Island ports are now 75 percent open, bringing daily necessities to the people of that island. Working with local companies, we’re supplying power to around 50 hospitals, dialysis centers. And as we speak, our administration is continuing to work tirelessly to clear every road, reach every community, and bring aid to every Puerto Rican in need. And we will not stop until the job is done. “
If any other American wants to donate to the continuing recovery efforts for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Vice President stated the following: “You can go to website to find a listing of all the national charitable and volunteer organizations that are working at this very hour to come alongside families in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. That website is NVOAD.org — National Volunteer Organizations — NVOAD.org. I encourage every American to continue to be as generous as you can to support the organizations — the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, Samaritan’s Purse that are supporting efforts locally and nationally to recover and rebuild and restore.”
In his closing remarks, the Vice President stated: “I’m very confident with the leadership of President Trump, with the dedication of local leadership, neighbors and friends in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with the dedication of federal officials who are the hands and feet of the American people in this hour of need, and with God’s help, I know that Cochi will sing loudly once again. And the best days for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are yet to come.”
I know the response at first was slow, I hate to see what is going on in our island, the suffering that’s going on, among all the deaths and so on, but what did this was mother nature, two consecutive hurricane, not Donald Trump for Christ sakes- stop the political BS and unite as American Puerto Ricans. All your American brothers and the world are lending their helping hands.
When I speak to anyone in Puerto Rico they are bashing our president instead of appreciating the help, late but surely. We are not alone.