REP. ESPAILLAT, REP. GONZÁLEZ COLÓN, AND SEN. WARREN REINTRODUCE BIPARTISAN HOUSING RELIEF FOR PUERTO RICO
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Congresswoman Jenniffer González Colón (PR-At-Large), and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) joined together to reintroduce the Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act, which would provide crucial relief to thousands of families who lost homes in natural disasters and ensure that future disaster relief efforts are more effective. The legislation was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last year with overwhelming bipartisan support.
“Our federal disaster relief programs have been failing for too long. Survivors of natural disasters – from Puerto Rico to Iowa – have been denied assistance due to federal relief programs’ bureaucratic barriers and nonsensical documentation requirements,” said Rep. Espaillat. “This vital legislation received bipartisan praise in the House last year precisely because of its material importance to the modernization of our disaster relief programs and the immediate health and safety of thousands of US citizens in Puerto Rico and elsewhere. ”
“This bill also provides those affected by major disaster declarations, such as the 2017 hurricanes and ongoing seismic activity that has devastated Puerto Rico, the ability to use alternative documents to prove ownership of a property or to show they there were residing in an area during a natural disaster, in order to receive FEMA’s disaster funding,” said Congresswoman Gonzalez-Colon. “I would like to thank Representative Espaillat for working with me on H.R. 3037 - the Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act, to ensure that my constituents in Puerto Rico, and those affected by other major disasters, have increased flexibilities to receive federal benefits to aid their recovery.”
"Catastrophic natural disasters from Puerto Rico to California have devastated families and left them searching for safe, stable and affordable housing," said Senator Warren. "The Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act would push the Federal government to step up for these families and make it easier for them to access the help they are entitled to and desperately need."
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Representative Espaillat is the first Dominican American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and his congressional district includes Harlem, East Harlem, West Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill and the north-west Bronx. First elected to Congress in 2016, Representative Espaillat is serving his third term in Congress. Representative Espaillat currently serves as a member of the influential U.S. House Committee on Appropriations responsible for funding the federal government’s vital activities. He is also a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), where he serves as the Second Vice Chair and is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, where he serves as Deputy Whip. Representative Espaillat also currently serves as a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. To find out more about Rep. Espaillat, visit online at https://espaillat.house.gov/. |