Bob Menendez

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, today we solemnly mark the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor--the Ukrainian famine genocide--that claimed the lives of millions in the 1930s. As part of its vicious crusade promoting a failed ideology, the Soviet Union perpetrated a forced starvation campaign against ethnic Ukrainians, hoping to erase their place in history and their cries for freedom and independence. We must never forget these crimes against humanity. Ukraine today faces a different kind of threat from its neighbor Russia's ongoing occupation of its land and aggression towards its people. We must recall the lessons from history and remain united in solidarity with our democratic friends and allies and all those who pursue freedom and justice. I am proud to represent a strong, engaged, and vibrant Ukrainian community in New Jersey, and I commend your efforts to continue to bring to light injustices of the past and efforts to promote a brighter future.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 259, on the nomination of Allison Eid, of Colorado, to be U.S. circuit judge for the Tenth Circuit. Had I been present, I would have voted nay. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 260, on the motion to invoke cloture on Stephanos Bibas, of Pennsylvania, to be U.S. circuit judge for the Third Circuit. Had I been present, I would have voted nay. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 261, on the nomination of Stephanos Bibas, of Pennsylvania, to be U.S. circuit judge for the Third Circuit. Had I been present, I would have voted nay.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 257, on the nomination of Joan Larsen, of Michigan, to be U.S. circuit judge for the Sixth Circuit. Had I been present, I would have voted nay. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 258, on the motion to invoke cloture on Allison Eid, of Colorado, to be U.S. circuit judge for the Tenth Circuit. Had I been present, I would have voted nay.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 255, on the nomination of Amy Barrett to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit. Had I been present, I would have voted nay. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 256, on the motion to invoke cloture on Joan Larsen, of Michigan, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit. Had I been present, I would have voted nay.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 253, on the nomination of Trevor McFadden to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia. Had I been present, I would have voted yea. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 254, on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Amy Barrett to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit. Had I been present, I would have voted nay.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 251, on the nomination of Scott L. Palk, of Oklahoma, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma. Had I been present, I would have voted nay. Madam President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 252, on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Trevor N. McFadden, of Virginia, to be United States District Judge for the District of Columbia. Had I been present, I would have voted nay.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 250, on the motion to invoke cloture on Scott L. Palk, of Oklahoma, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma. Had I been present, I would have voted nay.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 247, on the motion to waive the budget point of order with respect to the House message to accompany H.R. 2266, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations. Had I been present, I would have voted yea. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall No. 248, on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 2266, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations. Had I been present, I would have voted yea.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 246, on the motion to invoke cloture on the House message to accompany H.R. 2266, the emergency supplemental. Had I been present, I would have voted yea.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, having been away for a while from the Senate, I am pretty amazed to come back today and see a budget that is passed that throws away years of rhetoric about fiscal conservatism. The Senate just passed a budget that adds $1.5 trillion to our national debt, a budget that slashes seniors' healthcare by $473 billion. It decimates the Medicaid Program for parents and grandparents in nursing homes, those who are disabled, and those who are among the poorest, with cuts of over $1 trillion over the next decade. In total, the Republican budget would cut more than $5 trillion over the next decade from education, healthcare, affordable housing, childcare, nutrition assistance, transportation, and other programs that all Americans rely on. The question many New Jerseyans will be asking me is, Why? Why do Republicans in Congress add $1.5 trillion to our national debt while slashing the Medicare Program? The answer is simple. We are on a pathway to provide massive tax breaks to corporate interests, special interests, and the wealthiest 1 percent. This has been a Republican agenda for as long as I can remember. What I find most galling is that this budget plan is meant to set up a special process that we know here as reconciliation to pass the Trump tax plan--a plan, which, by which their own admission, will raise taxes on middle-class families. Think about that. The Republican Party is adding $1.5 billion to the debt to pay for massive tax breaks for the wealthiest among us--I should say trillion, $1.5 trillion to the debt to pay for massive tax breaks for the wealthiest among us. They aren't even guaranteeing that middle-class taxes will not go up. What the Republican budget fails to realize is that budgets are not just about numbers. Budgets are about people, their hopes, their dreams, their expectations for a better life for themselves and their children. My view is that this budget sells America short. It is not what the American people believe our collective values would be. Hard-working families want us to work together and pass a budget that addresses their concerns. They want safe communities, not a budget that threatens to cut the firefighter grants and stretches local budgets even thinner. They want peace of mind when they reach their golden years, not a budget that raises their healthcare costs. They want a tax proposal that cuts taxes for the middle class and working people, not more tax breaks for the folks that have been rigging the system against us. People are willing to do their part if everyone is sharing in the sacrifice. But this budget fails that test. It fails to recognize that we are all in this together and should benefit together and sacrifice together--each of us working for the betterment of all of us. Mr. President, another area where it is critical that we come together, not as 50 separate States but as the United States of America, is to help the 3.5 million American citizens living in Puerto Rico. I have serious concerns that the current disaster relief package currently being considered by Congress falls far short of that. Tomorrow will mark 1 month since Hurricane Maria devastated the island of Puerto Rico, leaving in its wake a trail of destruction, despair, and suffering. It is 1 month later, and still 88 percent of our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico don't have power. It is 1 month later, and still one-third of the island lacks access to clean, safe drinking water. Outside of the city of San Juan, the situation is even worse, as nearly two-thirds of people still remain without water. Let me just pause for a moment to think about that. Think about it: an entire month without clean water, without water to bathe, to cook with, or simply to drink. How many of us can even imagine such an existence? More than half of the island's cell towers are down, which is not just an inconvenience. It is a threat to safety. Imagine the sense of isolation and desperation when your power is out, when you have run out of potable water, with none on the way, and you can't even call for help. As bad as it looks on TV, the situation on the ground, as I saw it, is tragically worse. I am concerned that the package we are considering now is both inadequate in scope and unfair in treatment--inadequate because it is just a fraction of what Puerto Rico needs to recover, unfair because it treats the people of Puerto Rico different than Florida and Texas, even though they are U.S. citizens. While all three areas have been devastated by natural disasters, only Puerto Rico is being required to pay back natural disaster assistance. That is right. Unlike Florida and Texas, the majority of Puerto Rico's assistance is coming in the form of a loan. While there are a lot of things that the people of Puerto Rico need from their Federal Government, one thing they absolutely do not need and simply cannot afford is billions of dollars of more debt. This is not a normal disaster loan. No. Just like everything else with Puerto Rico, this loan comes with a major stipulation. While disaster loans are normally forgiven according to a standard formula under the Stafford Act, this package overrules longstanding law and leaves the decision entirely in the hands of the Secretaries of the Treasury and Homeland Security. While disaster loans are normally used to help people be safe and start the recovery process, this legislation gives the Secretaries of the Treasury and Homeland Security the authority to control how Puerto Rico spends the money. If Secretary Mnuchin decides that some, most, or even all of the loan should be used to pay off his friends on Wall Street, there is nothing Puerto Rico can do to stop him. If he decides that debt bondholders are more important than those who are suffering in darkness, there is nothing they can do to stop him. Instead of being treated like the rest of the country, Puerto Rico is left at the mercy of Treasury Secretary Mnuchin. They are at the mercy of someone who made his fortune off the backs of seniors and hard-working families who lost their homes in the foreclosure crisis. Do we really think that someone who callously rejected the pleas of struggling families to save their homes and instead put them on the fast track to foreclosure is going to suddenly change now for the 3.5 million American citizens in Puerto Rico? Does anyone really believe he is going to put the people of Puerto Rico first? What a tragedy it would be if, instead of helping our most vulnerable citizens, this loan was used to pay off, in whole or in part, vulture funds. We need people saved, not bondholders. We need a response that answers Puerto Rico's call. Instead of continuing to treat Puerto Rico like a foreign country and make them start a tab at the U.S. Treasury while they are vulnerable and pleading for help, we need to treat them just like their fellow American citizens in Florida and Texas. We need to provide unconditional assistance--real dollars to rebuild roads, the electrical grid, and to put people back in their homes and businesses. We need to address the massive Medicaid cliff that is forcing even more doctors and nurses off the island and threatening the health of the people of Puerto Rico. We need strong protections to make sure that the disaster relief stays with the people of Puerto Rico, where it is needed the most. Let me close by saying that I grew up believing the United States was the greatest country the world had ever seen. I still believe that today as strongly as ever. Ultimately, our response as it relates to the people of Puerto Rico is not just about the people of Puerto Rico but about all of us. It is about our values--who we are as a people, who we are as a nation. How we respond to this crisis will test the collective conscience of our Nation, and it will define us. As I have said many times, I have never shied away from voting for assistance for flooding in Mississippi, for wildfires in the West, for hurricanes like Katrina, and any other natural disaster that has faced our country with our fellow Americans. I was amazed when I had to struggle and fight here on the Senate floor for the first time--I don't know--in my lifetime to get assistance in the New York-New Jersey area after Superstorm Sandy. It took a major fight, with people voting no, even though I had always voted yes. The people of Puerto Rico do not have a U.S. Senator to cast their vote for them or to raise their voices for them. Yet, as long as I am a Member of this Chamber, I am going to continue to prick the conscience of the Senate to understand that when we walk to the Vietnam wall and see those names, a disproportionate number of them are Americans of Puerto Rican descent, who wore the uniform, gave their lives, and made the ultimate sacrifice. They did not leave the conflict early; they gave it their all. We cannot leave them early, nor should we leave them short. I yield the floor.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 225, on Wyden amendment No. 1302. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.'' Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 226, on Capito amendment No. 1393. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.'' Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 227, on Cantwell amendment No. 1141. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.'' Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 228, on Warner amendment No. 1138. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.'' Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 229, on Flake amendment No. 1178. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.'' Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 230, on Baldwin amendment No. 1139. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.'' Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 231, on Heitkamp amendment No. 1228. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.'' Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 232, on Brown amendment No. 1378. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.'' Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 233, on Paul amendment No. 1296. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.'' Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 234, on Cardin amendment No. 1375. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.'' Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 235, on Kaine amendment No. 1249. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 220, on Hatch amendment No. 1144. Had I been present, I would have voted yea. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 221, on Sanders amendment No. 1119. Had I been present, I would have voted yea. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 222, on Nelson amendment No. 1150. Had I been present, I would have voted yea. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 223, on Heller amendment No. 1146. Had I been present, I would have voted yea. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 224, on Sanders amendment No. 1120. Had I been present, I would have voted yea.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 218, on the confirmation of David Joel Trachtenberg to be a Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense. Had I been present, I would have voted nay. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 219, on the motion to proceed to H. Con. Res. 71. Had I been present, I would have voted nay.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 217, on the nomination of Callista Gingrich to be Ambassador to the Holy See. Had I been present, I would have voted yea.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I rise today, as I have on so many occasions, to give voice to the 3.5 million Americans who call Puerto Rico home. Their lives have been turned upside down by Hurricane Maria, and now more than ever, they desperately need to be heard. I invite my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in amplifying the voices of millions of Puerto Ricans calling out for help and the millions here on the mainland who have yet to hear from their families. Here on the floor with me today are aerial photos of the destruction caused by Hurricane Maria, the astounding damage I saw firsthand when I toured Puerto Rico by helicopter on Friday, pictures largely taken by me. Take this collapsed bridge in the municipality of Utuado, situated in the central mountains of Puerto Rico. Every day, the 30,000 Americans who live in Utuado depend on these bridges to cross the beautiful rivers that run through it, but today those 30,000 Americans are secluded, waiting in the dark, and wondering when help will arrive. Images like these have stayed with me from the moment I left Puerto Rico, and I share them today because the people of Puerto Rico need our collective voices and support to stop this humanitarian crisis from devolving into a full-blown American tragedy. This is another example of some of the devastation of a large number of homes in a community. If we hope to overcome the monumental challenges before us, we need a full grasp of the reality on the ground. I thought that is why President Trump went to Puerto Rico this week--to get a dose of reality. Instead, the President continued to feed on his own warped version of reality. The President told the people of Puerto Rico that they should be ``very proud'' that the death count was only ``16 versus literally thousands of people'' who died in ``a real catastrophe like Katrina''--a real catastrophe like Katrina. And certainly that was a catastrophe, but this is no less real for the people of Puerto Rico. Yet, moments later, the AP reported that fatalities in Puerto Rico have tragically risen to 44. And while I pray it is not the case, I fear that it may be even worse, because we have secluded communities that still have not gotten access, so we don't know what is happening there. In short, the situation is perilous, and we don't have a moment to waste. Like many, I had hoped that during his visit to Puerto Rico, the President would take the high road and set a new tone after his administration's woefully delayed and inadequate response to Hurricane Maria. Instead, the President took victim-blaming to a whole new level. He told emergency responders and local elected officials: ``I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you have thrown our budget a little out of whack.'' Well, Mr. President, perhaps we have to dial back the budget- bursting, trillion-dollar tax cuts you want to give to billionaire families like yours, because it is going to take more than paper towels to help the people of Puerto Rico. In this country, we don't turn our backs on Americans in need. We don't complain about how much it costs to restore power to hospitals or rebuild roads in ruin that connect people to their government and essential services or get clean drinking water and food and medicine to the hungry and the frail. We are the United States of America, and we are there for each other, whether it is Texas after Harvey or Florida after Irma or New Jersey after Sandy or Puerto Rico after Maria. If you heard the President speak earlier this week, you would heard that everything is going great and that he in particular is doing the greatest job any President has ever done in the history of the world. The administration will tell us that the majority of hospitals are open but leave out the fact that many are running on emergency generators at significantly reduced capacity. They will leave out how the shortages of ambulances and fuel and functional roads have made getting to the hospitals nearly impossible. Even if you do find a way there, the hospitals might not have the medicine, supplies, or doctors you need. The administration will boast that it has set up 11 distribution points for food, water, and other necessities, but what good is a distribution center that takes hours to reach and is out of supplies before you get there? They will brag about how half of the people have access to running water but neglect to say that in some rural areas in the north, barely over 13 percent of people have access to running water. They will boast about all of the buildings being inspected--something that even the Governor of Puerto Rico questioned--but look at this image I took 5 days before the President landed. This is just 25 minutes outside of San Juan. Hurricane Maria destroyed many of the wooden homes that populate the island and weakened many of its immense structures, as the picture showed that we had up before. Here is an example of it. So you see that all of these homes are destroyed. Some of them are not made in the same way. Here is a cement structure that is also totally destroyed. I saw the same sights across Puerto Rico in communities near the capital, in the mountains, and along the coast. What does all this tell us? It tells us an unfortunate truth: that the administration's response to this crisis has been woefully inadequate from the start. For 2 weeks, Puerto Ricans cried out for help--help accessing clean water, help powering hospitals, help feeding families. Yet the President accused them--the victims of this historic natural disaster-- of being ingrates clamoring for handouts. He dismissed the urgency of their situation, and he effectively called the mayor of San Juan another nasty woman who should pipe down. Well, this is the mayor of San Juan, wading hip deep in water. Does this look like a woman who isn't taking responsibility? No. To me, it looks like a leader doing everything she can to save lives. I knew from the start that we weren't getting the full picture, and because the administration went out of its way not to provide support for a bipartisan congressional delegation to visit the island, I decided to go myself. After all, it will be the responsibility of Congress to fund disaster relief and long-term recovery on these islands, and we need the facts in order to produce the right legislation. So last Friday, I boarded an Americans Airlines flight to Puerto Rico. Now, let me be clear. I have visited the island of Puerto Rico I don't know how many times over the past 25 years, both in my official capacity as a Member of Congress and personally to vacation. It is no exaggeration to say that the island I saw on Friday is not the island I have known and loved. The lush, green, tropical landscape that comes to mind when we think of Puerto Rico was mostly devoid of life. I met with the Governor of Puerto Rico. I spoke to local law enforcement officials, first responders, and Federal FEMA officials. With the help of the Governor's office and the Puerto Rico Joint Forces of Rapid Action--or FURA, as they are known on the island--I saw the damage by helicopter. I saw debris and mudslides and fallen trees on the inland streets, destroyed homes sprinkled with the occasional yet all-too-familiar blue of FEMA tarps. A dead green hue covered the landscape that was such a foreign sight to me that I caught myself thinking I was somewhere else. This was an all-too-familiar scene--the scene of a strong cement structure of a building, on the surface impervious to the strong winds of a hurricane, yet now on the verge of sinking into the Earth. The hurricane eroded so much land that in some inner parts of the island, landslides have become the new norm. The people who live here may never be able to return. Entire generations of close-knit communities may never be the same. Despite these dire conditions, during my visit to Puerto Rico, I felt the spirit of community and commitments shared by so many Americans across the island. After Hurricane Maria, they woke to devastation, no communication, and the isolating affects of roads being cut off by fallen trees, electrical posts, and debris. As they wait and wonder when their government will come to their aid, they are doing everything they can to survive. They have taken matters into their own hands. They are clearing roads, sheltering relatives who lost their homes, and working together to care for the most vulnerable. So through it all, I saw the hard-working spirit alive in Puerto Rico that I see whenever I speak with Puerto Rican families there and across New Jersey, where so many of my constituents are mobilizing to send help as they anxiously wait to hear from their families. Like so many Americans, I too worried about my family on the island. My brother faces health challenges, and I worried about his care. Fortunately, we had a brief moment to meet, and I was able to give him some supplies--help one person. But as tough as this situation was, he is one of the lucky ones. He lives in a suburb of San Juan which is relatively better off than the more remote, rural areas. Let's look at a chart of our recovery status. Fifteen days after the storm ravaged the island, where does it stand? Well, 93 percent of our fellow Americans are still without power. I can tell my colleagues firsthand that the heat and the humidity from all of the water that came from Maria is stifling. It is oppressive. It is hard to breathe. Sixty percent of Puerto Rico has no cell phone service, meaning people have no way of connecting to their families on the island and outside of the island or calling for help if they needed it. If they did, we could have pinpoint accuracy of search and rescue missions. Day by day, fewer and fewer Puerto Ricans have access to clean, running water. From October 2 to October 3, the population with running water dropped from 29 percent to 13 percent. The truth is, this situation would be unacceptable in any major city on the U.S. mainland, but, as the people of Puerto Rico know all too well, they don't get the same treatment as their fellow citizens on the mainland. The ugly truth is that for generations, Congress has treated the people of Puerto Rico not as our fellow Americans, not as people who have fought and bled for their country, like the famous Borinqueneers, an all-Puerto Rican infantry division, who received, recently, the highest decoration Congress gives collectively--the Congressional Gold Medal. They haven't treated them as first-class citizens but as second-class citizens. Hurricane Maria didn't create this disparity, but it exposed the longstanding inequities that have hindered the island's success for generations. The people of Puerto Rico don't receive equal Medicaid funding, Medicare coverage, or access to tax credits. They aren't just numbers on a ledger; they are long-term care for a grandparent, treatment for a critically ill child, and a fair shot to make a living wage and raise a family. This didn't happen overnight. These wrongs add up over time. As Governor Rossello said so eloquently: I invite you to reflect on why Puerto Rico is in the current state of disadvantage and inequality. It's not something that happened just a few months or few weeks before this storm. It is a condition that has happened for more than a century in Puerto Rico. I invite you to reflect on the reality that even after the storm hit Puerto Rico, even when it was evident it was a disaster in the United States, only half of our U.S. citizens knew Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. So when Hurricanes Irma and Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, these disparities, these inequalities, were laid bare. None of this should have taken the Trump administration by surprise. We knew the storm was coming. We knew for days that a category 5 hurricane was on a collision course with Puerto Rico, just as communities across the island were picking up the pieces after Irma. We have known for years about the island's aging infrastructure, like the downed power line pictured here. In short, all of us knew Hurricane Maria was a recipe for disaster that would leave 3.5 million Americans imperiled, disconnected, and in the dark. It should not have taken the administration 12 days to issue a disaster declaration--something I called for--for 100 percent of the island because, as I saw on Friday, there is no community in Puerto Rico untouched by this tragedy. Focused leadership would have had a three-star general on the ground the moment the clouds parted, not 8 days after the storms struck. We needed medical evacuation vehicles and vessels, aid and relief delivery systems on standby, the USNS Comfort ready for immediate deployment--something I called for. Instead, the administration told us helping Puerto Rico is hard because it is an island in a big ocean--but it happens to be an island of 3.5 million U.S. citizens. We have no more time to waste. That is why it is so urgent that we take action now. If we could send 20,000 troops to Haiti, surely, we can get more boots on the ground saving American lives in Puerto Rico. We need more helicopters airdropping food and water to secluded communities. We need generators delivered and the repair of communication towers expedited. It is up to the President to mobilize every resource possible--to save lives, to get the lights turned on, to rebuild bridges, to reach secluded communities, to reconnect families. We can't afford to waste any more time, not when lives are on the line, not when elderly residents in nursing homes grow frailer by the moment, not when hungry American children have nothing to eat, not when communities are without clean drinking water for days on end. We need to keep the pressure on the administration. That is why I wrote the President, urging that he activate the Defense Production Act of 1950 so the military could more quickly deliver vast private sector resources to those in need. That is why my colleagues and I wrote to the White House and urged FEMA to waive disaster relief cost sharing because, as the Governor told me: I have no revenue coming in. I have no revenue coming in, and the likelihood of revenue coming in, certainly in the short term, is not there. How do you acquire the 70 or 75 percent Federal assistance if you don't have the 25 percent to put up? That is why we have written the USDA asking that they use all available resources to get food to the people of Puerto Rico. This is an all-hands-on-deck situation for the Federal Government, but Congress also has a responsibility to act. That is why I sent a letter to Leader McConnell and Speaker Ryan urging that they bring forward an emergency supplemental aid package and fund community development block grants for disaster recovery. It is up to us in Congress to immediately authorize, not just the emergency funding needed to save lives in Puerto Rico but also the assistance needed for a full-powered recovery. We must give Puerto Ricans the tools to rebuild. That means making sure Puerto Rico's financial control board gives the Governor the flexibility to spearhead this recovery. Board members of that control board should be on the island, assessing the damage, speaking to the survivors, allowing Governor Rossello to create a new budget that reflects Puerto Rico's post-Maria reality. The damage, by some estimates, could be as high as $90 billion, so adjusting expectations and enabling flexibility is absolutely critical going forward. I have said it before and I will say it again. The people of Puerto Rico must come before Wall Street creditors. As it turns out, this is one area where the President and I can find common ground. Just last night, he called for Puerto Rico's debt to be wiped out. I hope all of us--the administration, my colleagues in Congress, and the fiscal control board--can work together to jump-start Puerto Rico's recovery. That must include enabling flexibility, addressing the island's crippling debt, and ensuring that pensions are protected and paid. Imagine not getting your pension--no longer working, having no income, and then your pension is not protected. How do you make it? All of us in the Senate have a responsibility to stand with Puerto Rico. How we respond to this crisis will have profound consequences, not just for the Americans who live in Puerto Rico today but for generations to come. We need to pass a disaster package that matches the astounding damage suffered by the island. The photos I have brought to the floor today give a glimpse--not anywhere near the whole picture--of the devastation on the ground. It is not enough to reconnect a faulty, ailing power grid. It is time to be proactive and rebuild Puerto Rico so it is prepared for the next storm and for the 21st century. It is time to fix the underlying disparities which have hindered Puerto Rico's success. Otherwise, we will simply be rebuilding a broken foundation. Let me close by saying, I remind my colleagues that Puerto Ricans are not just citizens of the United States--which, in and of itself, should speak to the compelling arguments we should be engaged in helping Puerto Rico as our fellow Americans. They have fought to defend our Nation from World War I to the War on Terror. Take a walk down to the Vietnam Memorial, and you will see Puerto Rican names engraved in that stone far in excess of the number of people proportionately to the American population. Throughout our history, Puerto Ricans have given their lives so they may remain part of the ``land of the free.'' To this day, more than 10,000 Puerto Ricans serve in every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. Let's also remember that beyond the 3.5 million citizens living on the island, there are 5 million Puerto Ricans living in our States, in our congressional districts, and in our communities. In the aftermath of this unprecedented disaster, these Americans deserve the same rights, the same respect, and the same response from their Federal Government. That is what I told leaders from New Jersey's Puerto Rican community earlier this week--assemblymen and women, mayors, community leaders, and concerned citizens. We all remember how hard it was to secure the funding we needed to rebuild New Jersey in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. We had to fight tooth and nail every step of the way, and, guess what, we had two U.S. Senators from New Jersey and 13 Members of Congress, joined by our colleagues from New York--two U.S. Senators from New York and a whole host of congressional Members as well as from Connecticut, which was also affected. It was an incredible time here to try to get relief. Americans in Puerto Rico have no vote in the Senate, they have no votes in Congress, and the fight to rebuild Puerto Rico will be that much harder, but, as I have in the past, I intend to be their voice and their vote in the U.S. Senate. Now is not the time to pretend like recovery will be a piece of cake. No one--not the Governor, not the President, not any one of us--should sugarcoat the human catastrophe playing out in Puerto Rico. It is time for honesty about the conditions on the ground, the challenges we face, and the actions we must take. Yes, Puerto Rico is an island in the middle of a very big ocean, but we are the most powerful nation on the face of the Earth. We have the most advanced military capabilities ever known and the most skilled Armed Forces in the world. We have to be there for 3.5 million Americans who are in need. We are the United States of America. We do the impossible. Give our men and women in uniform any mission, and they rise to the occasion. If we conducted the Berlin Airlift, set up tactical operations in the mountains of Afghanistan, built green zones in Baghdad in the height of the Iraq war, then surely we can save the lives of Americans in danger, and surely we can save those lives and help rebuild Puerto Rico. We must not rest until every American is safe and the work of rebuilding is done. I yield the floor. (At the request of Mr. Schumer, the following statement was ordered to be printed in the Record.)

Mr. MENENDEZ. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 210, the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Eric D. Hargan to be Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services. Had I been present, I would have voted nay. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 211, on the nomination of Eric D. Hargan to be Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services. Had I been present, I would have voted nay. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 212, on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Randal Quarles to be a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Had I been present, I would have voted nay.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I was unavoidably absent for rollcall vote No. 209, on the nomination of Ajit Varadaraj Pai, of Kansas, to be a member of the Federal Communications Commission. Had I been present, I would have voted nay. (At the request of Mr. Schumer, the following statement was ordered to be printed in the Record.)

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I was unavoidably absent for rollcall vote No. 205, on the nomination of Makan Delrahim, of California, to be an Assistant Attorney General. Had I been present, I would have voted nay. Mr. President, I was unavoidably absent for rollcall vote No. 206, the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Ralph Erickson, of North Dakota, to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Had I been present, I would have voted yea. Mr. President, I was unavoidably absent for rollcall vote No. 207, on the nomination of Ralph Erickson, of North Dakota, to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Had I been present, I would have voted yea. Mr. President, I was unavoidably absent for rollcall vote No. 208, the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Ajit Varadaraj Pai, of Kansas, to be a member of the Federal Communications Commission. Had I been present, I would have voted nay.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 204, on the nomination of Heath P. Tarbert, of Maryland, to be Assistant Secretary of International Markets and Development, U.S. Treasury Department. Had I been present, I would have voted no.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 203 on the nomination of William Emanuel to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay''.

Mr. MENENDEZ

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I was unavoidably absent for rollcall vote No. 200, the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Noel J. Francisco, of the District of Columbia, to be Solicitor General of the United States. Had I been present, I would have voted nay. Mr. President, I was unavoidably absent for rollcall vote No. 201, on the nomination of Noel J. Francisco, of the District of Columbia, to be Solicitor General of the United States. Had I been present, I would have voted nay. Mr. President, I was unavoidably absent for rollcall vote No. 202, the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of William J. Emanuel, of California, to be a Member of the National Labor Relations Board. Had I been present, I would have voted nay.