Lady, jill biden, to puerto rico. We are honored to have you here. The people of puerto rico are very grateful for your steadfast support and highly appreciate your visit, particularly as we recover from Hurricane Fiona. I must highlight that this visit is not an isolated incident. It is yet another example of your commitment to the wellbeing of the citizens of puerto rico, which you and your administration have demonstrated with concrete actions for the past 19 months. That support has included total collaboration from cabinet members in key federal agencies as well as targeted initiatives and important policy areas such as education, Renewable Energy and economic development. Now in puerto ricos time of need, the Biden Administration has been working closely with us. As i have mentioned, femas collaboration has been instrumental to our islands reconstruction efforts. That has helped put our people in puerto rico back on their feet. My team and i provided the president and his staff with a briefing of where we are with respect to the recovery of Hurricane Fiona and described the challenges and opportunities we must Work Together. This is crucial to be able to efficiently provide our residents equitable access to essential services and achieve the resiliency in infrastructure that we need. To that end, i have made a request to President Biden to amend the major disaster declaration to provide an additional period of 180 days of 100 funding for debris removal, emergency protective measures and direct federal assistance. [applause] right now, puerto rico is in full recovery mode. Just two weeks after fiona, 93 of Puerto Ricans have electricity and 98 have water service. We have been able to provide safe passage to all communities whose access roads or bridges were affected. Everyone who was housed in a shelter has either returned to their home or has been provided temporary housing. All 78 puerto rican municipalities were included in the major disaster declaration on more than 800,000 residents of puerto rico have registered with fema to claim individual assistance. Our efforts to combat poverty are especially important after the disaster like Hurricane Fiona in which so many vulnerable families lost their homes and belongings. Thus, i have asked fema to provide immediate access to the supplies in its local warehouses to our government and that 94 local nongovernmental organizations operating Community Hubs on our island. On the other hand, we must leverage the recent advances we have made in the ongoing construction due to Hurricane Maria five years ago. It is crucial that all projects stemming from the impact of Hurricane Fiona be incorporated in our previous projects in a cohesive and strategic manner. In addition, since so much of the damage by fionas flooding was in our transportation infrastructure we have requested that fema treat the reconstruction of our roads and bridges as Critical Infrastructure in its recovery policy. We also talked about additional ways in which the federal government can assist us in advancing the transformation of our electric system and achieving our Renewable Energy generation goals by 2050, consistent with the memorandum of understanding we signed last february with key federal agencies. This initiative will help us promote microgrids and distribute energy in remote areas, improve our power sector resiliency, and increase access to more Affordable Energy and cleaner air. Finally, we spoke of the need to prioritize u. S. Army corps of engineers Flood Control projects to mitigate further damages from potential additional storms. The ongoing or potential projects cover areas that suffered damages during Hurricane Fiona, such as the area surrounding several cities here. We must prioritize our aid to our farmers, Climate Change mitigation initiatives like coastal erosion and choral Restoration Projects and Adequate Funding for our health care programs. In short, my asks to you, mr. President , are straightforward. We want to be treated in the same way as our federal fellow americans in the states in times of need. All american citizens regardless of where they live should receive the same support from the federal government. We are confident that the president will heed our call for equal treatment because that is consistent with his priorities and policies. Again, i want to thank President Biden and the first lady for their visit and for his administrations support for puerto ricos recovery. Thank you. [applause] [speaking spanish] [speaking ] [applause] i would like to extend our warmest welcome and express our appreciation to the president and the first lady for their visit to the municipality of ponce, which is where i am from and where i have lived my entire life. Allow me to introduce myself. The centers were founded by a missionary woman whose legacy of love and service we tried to honor with our work and dedication. Our communities and puerto rico have experienced countless hardships. Hurricane maria was devastating. We wanted to recover and rebuild. After that, we were struck hard by earthquakes, the pandemic and most recently, by Hurricane Fiona. We have not been able to fully recover. Hurricane maria was terrible. We lost everything and some people even lost family members. Mine was one of the families that had to seek refuge in the mainland with the purpose of bringing stability to our families. Something told me that i had to come back to puerto rico, and i was given the opportunity to become part of this amazing team. I have learned a lot during these years and there is no doubt that we are a resilient and hardworking people. When one looks at our communities from the standpoint of privilege, it sounds like it is an exaggeration. But when you dive deeper, you realize that the problems are much greater than one thinks. But as sister said, serving is our way of talking and that is how we will continue to do what we do every day until we lift up our communities and our island of puerto rico. I want to thank President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for their visit. I am grateful for the support and assistance they have provided so far. I hope they are able to understand our most basic needs and i am deeply honored today to be able to introduce president joe biden. [applause] pres. Biden thank you. My name is joe biden and i dont want the headline to read biden brings storm to puerto rico. [laughter] so i will maybe have to cut this short. Let me start off by saying jill and i and thank you for that lovely introduction. Jill and i are anxious to be here. I come from a little state of delaware. It is not like the congresswoman from new york. Shes from a big state. But we have a very relative terms of large puerto rican population in delaware, relative to our population. We have the eighth largest black population in the country and between all minorities, we have 20 of our state as minority and i was raised in the Puerto Rican Community at home, politically. We came here for a long time for business and pleasure since you are part of the Third Circuit court of appeals and delaware as well and i was chairman of the judiciary committee. I spent a lot of time in the northern part of the state. But look, it is people like you who do so much for your community and they can make such a big difference as puerto rico rebuilds. Thank you, governor, for your partnership as we Work Together to help rebuild puerto rico and i mean rebuild it all in a resilient way so when storms come again, which they will, we will not have the damage they caused before. I want to thank the members of congress, local officials, the Community Leaders that have joined us today ever since the hurricane struck. Jill and i have had people in puerto rico on our minds and in our prayers. We came here in person to show that we are with you. All of america is with you as as you receive and recover and rebuild. I am confident we will be able to do all you want, governor and i am committed to this island. Puerto rico has been through so much in recent years, Hurricane Maria five years ago, a 6. 4 magnitude earthquake two years ago. The folks slept outside for days worried about their homes collapsing on them if they went in. Then covid19 and then fiona. Yes, puerto rico is a strong place and Puerto Ricans are a strong people but even so, you have had to bear so much and you havent gotten the help in a timely way. This latest storm dealt a serious blow to all the hard work that has been done since maria. Roads and bridges have been washed away again. Families have spent their savings to build new homes after losing their last ones. We have seen them flooded away. Crops decimated, farms destroyed here in ponce. For days, people lived without power and water. No idea when it will be back again and for everyone who survived maria and fiona, must have been a familiar nightmare. You know better than anyone that over time these losses add up so Puerto Ricans have lost loved ones in this storm and in the perilous disasters. The number can fill abstract sometimes but every number, is a person, every life lived we read the obituaries and they all feel like people we knew. Grandparents, devoted parents, children, longtime neighbors, people who care about their community and made a difference. They will not be forgotten and through these disasters, so many people have been displaced and lost their jobs and savings and suffered injuries. Somehow, the people of puerto rico keep getting back up with resilience and determination. It is extraordinary. You deserve every bit of help your country can give you. That is what i am determined to do. That is what i promise you. After maria, Congress Approved billions of dollars to puerto rico much of it not having gotten here initially. We will make sure you get every single dollar promised and i am determined to help puerto rico build faster than in the past and stronger and better prepared for the future. That is why i approved Emergency Declaration of puerto rico before the hurricane. Before the hurricane made lawn for to deliver immediate federal funding. A few days later, i approved a major disaster declaration and that means federal government will cover hundred percent of the cost to clear debris and carry out searchandrescue. It also means homeowners and renters and Business Owners are eligible to apply for federal help to recover losses caused by Hurricane Fiona. The federal government will provide individual assistance for home repair and another 37,900 for lost property. We have deployed more than 1200 personnel from fema. The u. S. Coast guard, the department of energy, the Environmental Protection agency, they include search and rescue and teams to assist our buyers survivors. Power is now back. 92 of the island and water is back at 95 of the island thanks in part to dedicated workers and federal support staff. We have to get to 100 . At this facility, you can see some of the generators from fema and the army corps of engineers that were transported to places that still dont have power. My administration is providing Financial Assistance for families and individuals right away. Many families are scrambling to pay bills and fill up their gas tank and put food on the table. They can register at fema and cash assistance for 700. Nearly 200,000 households across puerto rico have received the cash assistance. 700 wont replace what you lost not even close, but it can help take care of some of the basics while you catch your breath. Fema has made crisis counselors available, whether you are a survivor or first responder. If you need help, or someone to talk to, people are here for you. The hotline number is 18009810023. I will say it again. 18009810023. Dont be embarrassed to call. Counselors will be standing by. I am grateful for a personnel of fema and other agencies for their hard work. Many of our fema staff are from puerto rico, they have been working 24 7 to get help to people across the island. While also scrambling to help their own families and neighbors. I want to recognize the local First Responders including the National Guard who have been working roundtheclock and i mean it literally. Round the clock. I want to applaud the red cross volunteers who have come as far away as california, louisiana , minnesota, texas to help however they can and new york since not only a congresswoman but state troopers and emergency responders. You will not stay the whole time . All kidding aside the states are home of two of the largest puerto rican populations in the United States and the sisters and brothers needed them and they answered the call. I want to recognize the heroism and selflessness across puerto rico and the main story that has been reported is another story. The day after the hurricane, churches and Community Organizations open a network of kitchens across the island to cook food for anyone who needed it. Folks delivered food to the elderly who are housebound, they started generators neighbors who had medicine that needed to be refrigerated. They organized activities for kids to give exhausted parents of break. They gave supplies to communities cut short as a consequence of landslide and flooding and could not be reached. When the waters were rising, people went to extraordinary lengths to help each other survive. We have seen people use rafts and boats tied to a boat to brave the raging waters and rescue neighbors trapped in their homes. They arent paratroopers or professional, they are neighbors, regular folks ready and willing to do what they can do when help was needed when their neighbor was in trouble. Thanks to them, all of puerto rico, this recovery from fiona is underway. I am encouraged by all the stories that are opening up, the hospitals that kept running, the supply chains that held steady in the debris has already begun to be cleared. We will continue the debris coverage. Still, we have to do more. We have to ensure when the next hurricane strikes rico is ready. Today i am announcing more than 60 million in funding to help puerto rico become better prepared. We can create a Flood Warning system to help shore up levees and flood walls. There is nearly 700 million Infrastructure Investments in puerto rico that have already been announced since i signed the bipartisan infrastructure lot last november. We awarded 90 million to upgrade the pr to highway. And we have announced 163 million to begin construction on a canal to restore help me with the pronunciation. That entire ecosystem. [applause] you will see investments increasing in the months ahead. We are investing in puerto ricos roads, businesses, water safety and highspeed internet. We know that the Climate Crisis and more extreme weather will continue to hit the island and hit the United States overall. As we rebuild we have to ensure we built it to last. We are particularly focused on the power grid. Puerto rico has received 4 million for the power grid. And that number will go up. I am ready to deploy and expedite more resources. I dont usually talk this fast. It looks like it is moving quickly. [applause] to help transform the entire system so puerto rico can get power they need and the power stays in homes and hospitals. That includes minigrids that will be deployed soon. The goal is Lower Energy Bills and moral are about and more reliable power. I have asked the secretary of energy, jennifer granholm, to lead in the effort. She will put in place the puerto rico modernization to bring federal resources and taking in assistance for puerto rico and we will help to repair your grid quickly. I also know many people in puerto rico have many family and friends in florida. Your hearts are with people right now and their hearts are with you. Jill and i will be in florida on wednesday and at times like these, our nation comes together and put aside our political differences and get to work and we show up when we are needed because if we lost our home and we lost a loved one, we hope that people will show for us as well. I want the people of puerto rico to know that i am committed and the administration is committed to stand with you every step of the way as long as it takes. The white house has honored hispanic history month. A proud son of puerto rico offered a prayer for all those who suffered. He said, give us generous hearts so we continue to use our gifts to support them. The people of puerto rico have generous hearts. We are returning generosity. I want to say again, we are not leaving here until as long as i am president until everything, every single thing that we can do is done. God bless you all, and for all of you that are hurting, may god protect our troops and all the brave souls that risked their lives to help others survive the tragedy. I dont talk this fast but it looks like we made it. [laughter] [applause] thank you very much. I was up in new york with the mayor the governor. They wanted to talk to me about puerto rico. She is one of the best congresswoman and Congress Persons in the entire congress. Were you born here . Yes. I was born here and my entire family. Nine brothers and sisters. God bless you. My mother used to say, anyone who had that many children, no purgatory. Straight to heaven. Thank you for being here. Pres. Biden we will get this done. Thank you. [applause] thank you everybody. I really mean its. Thank you very much. Cspans washington journal, every day we take your call live on the air on the news of the day and discussed policy issues that impact you. Coming up Tuesday Morning, we talk about the impact of latino voters and midterm elections. Then we discuss what young people are interested and as a vote in november plus free speech on College Campuses with scott walker and current president of young americas foundation. Watch washington journal life washington journal life. Join the discussion with your phone call, facebook comments, Text Messages and tweets. The Supreme Court hears oral argument in merrill versus milligan a case on whether alabamas violates the Voting Rights act. Live proceedings begin Tuesday Morning at 10 00 eastern on cspan. Cspan now our free mobile video app, or online at these on. Org cspan. Org. Cspan is her unfiltered view of government funded by these Television Companies and more including cox. Homework can be hard, but squatting in a diner for internetwork is even harder. That is why we are providing lower income students access to affordable internet, so homework can just be homework. Cox connect to compete. Cox along with these other television pride providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is seeking a third term this november. Over the weekend he spoke at a Campaign Kickoff event in harlingen located along the u. S. Mexico border. The governor spent time knocking on doors to speak with local residents. [applause] Governor Abbott is here