Puerto Rico governor presses White House to release hurricane relief aid held up by Trump administra
Washington Post
Jeff Stein
Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said in an interview Wednesday that he has asked senior White House officials to quickly disburse billions in hurricane disaster aid that have for years been held up by the Trump administration.
Pierluisi said that he pressed Biden administration officials on a recent Zoom call to lift strict restrictions on federal reconstruction aid that the Trump administration enacted in 2019 over concerns related to corruption on the island.
Congress approved close to $60 billion in emergency funding for the island’s recovery and reconstruction after it was decimated by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Close to four years later, less than half of that aid has actually reached Puerto Rico, with $40 billion of it remaining unspent.
“This is outright discrimination that we need to stop,” said Pierluisi, who was sworn in on Jan. 2.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/21/joe-biden-live-updates/#link-N6ITSQ2SHVAA3I5VOI6AWXBH34
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