Jessica Corbett at Common Dreams writes—Decrying Trump's 'Cruel' Refusal to Act, Warren and Markey Unveil Bill to Help Puerto Ricans Left Homeless by Maria:
Just before hurricane season officially started on Friday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey—both Democrats from Massachusetts—announced plans to introduce a bill to address homelessness in Puerto Rico, which is still in recovery mode from Hurricane Maria, the storm that ravaged the U.S. territory last September.
"If the Trump administration continues to turn its back on these U.S. citizens in need, it's time for Congress to act," the senators wrote in a guest column for MassLive.com. "That's why we are introducing the Housing Victims of Major Disasters Act."
The legislation aims to address the medium- and long-term housing needs of those who survived the storm, but whose homes were seriously damaged or completely destroyed. It would also establish response plans for future natural disasters on the island.
The Trump administration—particularly the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)—has been intensely criticized for its inadequate response to the humanitarian crisis that followed the hurricane. [...]
Storm survivors have struggled for more than eight months to access not only medical care, but also food, drinking water, shelter, and electricity. The island's electrical grid, which was already struggling with mountains of debt prior to the hurricane, has been plagued by delayed repair work and frequent blackouts. [...]
On June 30, FEMA will end its Transitional Shelter Assistance program, which has housed families in hotels, and "many of these evacuees are caught between two impossible situations—at risk of becoming homeless if they don't return to Puerto Rico and living in dangerously substandard housing if they do return."
"The good news is FEMA has the tools to help these evacuees get back on their feet. The bad news is that FEMA refuses to use those tools," the senators wrote.
TOP COMMENTS • HIGH IMPACT STORIES
QUOTATION
“Sustainable development - development that does not destroy or undermine the ecological, economic, or social basis on which continued development depends - is the only viable pathway to a more secure and hopeful future for rich and poor alike.”
~~Maurice Strong, Opening Statement to the Rio Summit, June 3, 1992
TWEET OF THE DAY
BLAST FROM THE PAST
On this date at Daily Kos in 2003—Failure at Gitmo:
Placed at the end of an article on Donald Rumsfeld's foreign policy initiatives, this time bomb, and it is nothing less, says that our strategy of holding prisoners at Guantánamo has failed miserably. Rumsfeld's plan, which would be ruled illegal in Australia and Britain to start with, is the clearest sign that our policy is a failure. The vast majority of our Cuban gulag's prisoners clearly belong held as official POWs and not terrorists or some other ginned-up definition.
Therefore, we have violated international law to hold POWs who could have been held in the US, under the eye of the Red Cross. What is even worse is that if they are released to their home countries, there is little chance of a successful prosecution there.
The US policy has treated Al Qaeda as a fixed paramilitary structure, like the PLO, where there are clear lines of command. AQ is nothing of the sort. Osama has the people he personally controls and a group of people he funds like a grant board. If he likes a plan, the venture capitalist of terror then ships some money their way. He doesn't seek to run every operation.
So holding children and legitimate combatants in a gulag under the broiling Cuban sun is not only a policy we can no longer sustain, it is a tremendous waste of time and effort.
On
today’s Kagro in the Morning show:
Another new name for the TrumpWorld Rogues’ Gallery. Hey, maybe they ARE listening to his phone! Trump’s trade war flailing draws Armando into the mix. Trump hearts the insider trading. One weird old trick to gain access to your grand jury materials!
RadioPublic|LibSyn|YouTube|Patreon|Square Cash (Share code: Send $5, get $5!)