Smith Statement on President Trump’s Inadequate Disaster Relief Efforts in Puerto Rico
Washington, D.C. – Today, House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA) made the following statement about President Trump’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico:
“The Trump administration’s response to the destruction in Puerto Rico has been wholly inadequate. A territory of 3.5 million American citizens is almost completely without power, water, food, and telephone service, and we have a handful of helicopters involved in DOD’s response. It’s a disgrace. At a minimum, President Trump needs to assemble a coordinated military effort headed by a three-star general officer, as President Bush did after Hurricane Katrina.”