Florida, puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands have been devastated by hurricanes. I first want to express our heart felt sorrow for the millions of americans impacted by these devastating storms and say all members of this committee on both sides of the aisle stand with those affected by the hurricanes. I would also like to thank dr. Burgess, both members of the subcommittee who each recently visited puerto rico to assess the impact the hurricanes have had and continue to have on our fellow americans. This committee has been conducting oversight of the federal response to the recent hurricanes since shortly after harvey made landfall in texas. Unfortunately, i expect that our work here will continue for years to come. The committees jurisdiction involves not just Public Health issues but rebuilding the electrical grid, addressing environmental cleanup and restoring telecommunications to name only a few. The people of puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands continue to face a long
But i do want to say that its been one of the great honors of my life to have the opportunity to serve with a man of integrity and honor and decency and commitment to not only arizona, but the United States of america. I have seen jeff flake stand up for what he believes in knowing full well that there would be a political price to pay. I have seen him stand up for his family. Ive seen him stand up for his forebearers who were the early set he he early settlers of e state of arizona. There is a place called snowflake, arizona. Obviously the flake part comes from his direct predecessor. It is the flake families and families like them that came and worked and slaved and raised families and made arizona what it is. And it has never had a more deserving son than jeff flake and his beautiful wife cheryl and children. So i would just like to say, jeff, ive known you now for a number of years. I know you have served arizona and the country, and theres one thing that im absolutely sure of and
Im going to go ahead and get this straight. Thank you, everybody. Appreciate it. We are here today to examine the department of health and Human Services Public Health preparedness for and response to the 2017 Hurricane Season. In the last two months, texas, florida, puerto rico, and the u. S. Virgin islands have been devastated by hurricanes. I first want to express our heartfelt sorrow for the millions of americans impacted by these devastating storms and say that all members of this committee on both sides of the aisle stand with those affected by the hurricanes. I would also like to thank dr. Burgess and dr. Ruiz, both members of this subcommittee, who each recently visited puerto rico to assess the impact these hurricanes have had, and continue to have, on our fellowe americans. This committee has been conducting oversight of the federal response to the recent hurricanes since shortly after harvey made landfall in texas. Unfortunately, i expect that our work here will continue for
Over one million americans are still without clean, safe Drinking Water. Rebuilding puerto rico and u. S. Virgin islands will take years. The Health Care Systems are in direcondition and most of the operational facilities need some degree of assistance. To make matters worse the electrical grid has been devastated which has significantly hampered recoveryefforts. We dont know the full extent of the damage let alone when we will have electricity and Running Water restored. We are trying to make sure we do Everything Possible to addressthe short and long term needs. Especially in the face of Thepublic Health risk that resulted and will continue to resultfrom these storms. I would like to thank the witnesses for testifying today and i look forward to hearing your testimony. I yield five minutes for Opening Statement to the Ranking Memberfrom colorado. This 2017 Hurricane Season has been one of the most damagingon record. Hurricane harvey broke the record for the greatestamount of rain rec
You know. Sometimes its someone you know very well. Then chilling stories from other women. He wanted to get me in there, and i didnt budge. And all the bells were going off. I jumped in my car and took off. I felt like i dodged a bullet. His fantasy. Their nightmare. In my wildest dreams i never imagined that a website like this could even exist. That was extremely frightening. Oh boy, that gets into pretty dark territory, doesnt it . Yes. Reporter it was the afternoon of november 15th, austin, texas, 4 00 p. M. There was something ominous in the air. Suddenly the smell of it, the familiar feel of it against the skin. A storm coming. Something big. They did tell us on the news, if you dont have to go out tonight, dont. Because were going to get relentless rains. Reporter then the sky overhead turned dark like midnight in the afternoon. And when it gets like that, its pitch black out, and you have the fear for tornadoes. Reporter sure enough, said the announcers on tv, twisters had bee