Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Vice president vows long-haul Puerto Rico aid
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Vice President Mike Pence pledged that the federal government will continue providing assistance to Puerto Rico until the hurricane-ravaged island has fully recovered, saying there is still “a long way to go.”
“We will be here for the long haul. We will be here until all the people can say with one voice, ‘Puerto Rico se levanta. Puerto Rico is rising,’” Pence said Friday during a visit to Iglesia Santa Bernardita, a church in San Juan.
Pence, traveling to Puerto Rico two days after President Donald Trump visited with hurricane survivors and federal relief personnel, praised the government effort to provide food and resources to residents.
“But we have a long way to go. President Trump and I know this,” he said. “We will see this challenge through.”
Pence also said he “had faith” in Puerto Rico’s governor and local leaders. Trump has criticized the mayor of San Juan after she complained of inefficiency in the federal response.
While surveying damage in a San Juan neighborhood hit hard by Hurricane Maria, a young man told Pence, “If you’re going to help us, it’s got to be now. We need more people, we need more communications.”
Pence patted the man on the shoulder and later told reporters, “We understand his frustration when you think of the sheer magnitude of the loss, the impact on families, the loss of life being so grievous.”
Maria wiped out power and left the island’s 3.4 million people short of food and supplies. Pence made his trip after Trump had come under heated criticism for what some said was a sluggish response to the storm’s devastation.
But while Trump tossed out rolls of paper towels to the crowd in San Juan and invited officials to praise him, Pence carried a tray of sandwiches into a reception area at the Iglesia Santa Bernardita. He walked along long tables shaking hands. And he spoke consistently about the federal government’s commitment to helping the region recover.
The federal board overseeing Puerto Rico’s troubled finances has cited estimates that the rebuilding effort needed could cost as much as $95 billion, roughly 150 percent of the island’s economy.
Earlier in the day, Pence and second lady Karen Pence visited the U.S. Virgin Islands, flying over St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John. On all three islands, they witnessed roofs ripped off houses, mangled and leafless trees, and felled power lines.
Pence described the wreckage as “overwhelming,” adding, “but the resilience of the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands is even greater.”
He said Trump wants people to know, “We will be with you every day until the Virgin Islands comes all the way back.”
On St. Croix, construction worker Jose Sanchez, 33, said the visit “builds morale; it gives us hope.”
As for the impact of Maria, Sanchez said, “It was a whipping that we received. It is something that people are never going to forget, like Katrina.”
Kenneth Mapp, governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, said the federal government had hurricane response efforts “down to a science.”
“There is no country that responds to disasters like the United States of America,” he said, adding that the island is making progress in its recovery from Hurricane Maria and expects schools to reopen Tuesday.