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San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz to Trump: You Can’t Handle the Truth
Amen. You can bet a Trump/Pence red state such as Indiana would not be without power for two months.
Related: Neither states nor nations, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands face rocky storm recovery
by Suzanne Gamboa
November 1, 2017
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz at a news conference at the Capitol Visitors Center in Washington D.C.
Denied her chance to testify before Congress Wednesday, the mayor of Puerto Rico’s largest city used a Capitol hallway to heap criticism on President Donald Trump, saying he "can't handle the truth." Six weeks since the monstrous hurricane hit the island, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said the island remains in a “life or death” situation. “The Trump administration can’t handle the truth,” she said, adding that “survival cannot be our new way of life.” Cruz was supposed to testify Wednesday before the House Committee on Homeland Security, but the hearing was abruptly canceled. Cruz got news of the cancellation after she had already headed to Washington. “I am here to say what I was going to say at that hearing, that they seemed not to want to hear,” she said. “Mr. Trump, do your job. Lives are at stake. This is not about politics. This is not about your ego. This is about the people of Puerto Rico and the people of the U.S. VI (Virgin Islands).”
Ticking off a list of demands, Cruz said the administration needs to treat Puerto Rico with dignity and suspend the Jones Act for four years. The law restricts shipping to the island to U.S. ships with U.S. crews. Puerto Rico needs a comprehensive “reform” and “restoration” plan that “touches on energy and education and health care, but it can’t be a plan that takes us back to the 1950s,” she said. “No longer will we be able to hide inequality and poverty behind palm trees and piña coladas,” she said. Cruz said since DHS has been "running interference" with FEMA, there has been improvement for the city. She said she has spoken a couple of times with DHS Secretary Elaine Duke. But the need is high, she said.
Amen. You can bet a Trump/Pence red state such as Indiana would not be without power for two months.
Related: Neither states nor nations, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands face rocky storm recovery