THEY oowov, SOUTH CAROLINA ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, MARYLAND CHAIRMAN RANKING MINORITY MEMBER at the ??ntteh ?tates 19mm. of Repreaentatihea COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM 2157 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON, DC 20515?6143 MAJORITY (202)225?5074 MINORITY (202)225?5051 September 29, 2017 The Honorable Trey Gowdy Chairman Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 2157 Rayburn House Of?ce Building Washington, DC. 20515 Dear Mr. Chairman: We are writing to express our extremely grave concerns about the dire status of recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the US. Virgin Islands and to request that the Committee hold an emergency hearing next week with of?cials from the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services, as well as from the White House. The full Committee currently has no hearings, business meetings, or other activities scheduled for the entire week, and this issue is in desperate need of rapid and robust oversight. Millions of American citizens residing in Puerto Rico and the US. Virgin Islands are facing massive calamities?including widespread disease and death?and we need to help them now. Lt. General Russel L. Honore who commanded Joint Task Force Katrina, recently warned, the Administration?s response to this humanitarian crisis is ?replaying a scene from Katrina.? Admiral Paul Zukunft, the Coast Guard Commandant, warned this week that the victims feel betrayed: ?They feel isolated, and they?re probably getting a sense of betrayal, of, well, ?Where is the cavalry??2 San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin warned that her constituents are ?literally gasping for air.?3 Reports indicate that one of the biggest challenges is simply moving cargo through Puerto Rico?s ports and into the cities and For example, CNN has reported that a ?mountain of food, water and other Vital supplies? is stalled in Puerto Rico?s main port of San 1 Pure} to Rico ReliefE?OJ 1? Repfays Scene? tom Kati ma, Retired Gene) Says Morning Edition. National Public Radio (Sept. 28, 2017) (online at npr. -rico- -relief?eff01ts got- --off to- poor? ?start- retired- general- says). 2 The Sad Suspicion About Trim-1p ?s Shari-re?t! Treatment ofPuerro Rico, Washington Post (Sept. 26, 2017) (online at 3 San Juan Mayor Says People Are ?Gaspmg for/11'1" as Maria Cripple? Puerto Rico, ABC News (Sept. 26, 2017) (online at The Honorable Trey Gowdy Page 2 Juan because the Administration apparently had no plan to deploy airlift capacity.4 The Administration did not send the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln as it did after Hurricane Inna hit Miami.5 The Administration waited more than a week to deploy the hospital ship USNS Comeit, even though it will take five to nine more days to sail to Puerto Rico. This delay reportedly ?stands in sharp contrast to the speed with which it was detached to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.? Based on current reporting, which is spotty, approximately 44% of people in Puerto Rico are without drinking water, and ?island?wide water service may not resume until electricity is restored across Puerto Rico, which could take months.?7 Residents are reportedly ?scavenging for food, collecting water from mountain streams and drinking the rain.?8 People are also drinking shallow ground water that ?is incredibly susceptible to contamination from sewage and other sources.?9 Experts warn that ?the presence of the V. cholerae bacterium, poverty, collapsed infrastructure and lack of potable water access?create a toxic mix that could promote cholera outbreaks in Puerto Rico during the coming days and weeks.?10 Yet, the health care infrastructure is decimated, with many hospitals running only on emergency power. One press report relayed a ?rst?hand account from Domingo Cruz Vivaldi, the Vice President of the San Jorge Children?s Hospital: 4 Puerto Rico ?5 Aid is Trapped in Thousands of Shipping Containers, CNN (Sept. 28, 2017) (online at 5 Navy Orders Aircraft Carrier Ready for Irma, CNN (Sept. 8, 2017) (ouline at 6 Nat-j? Hospital Ship USNS Comfort Prepping for Puerto Rico Rescue Mission, U.S. News World Report (Sept. 27, 2017) (online at 7 Pentagon: 44 percent ofPuerto Ricans Lack Clean Drinking Water, The Hill (Sept. 26, 2017) (online at system); In Storm?Ravager? Puerto Rico, Drinking Water in Short Supply, Reuters (Sept. 27, 2017) (online at 3 ?1 Don ?t eel Safe Here A Night of Desperation in San Juan ?5 Sweltering Airport, CNN Money (Sept. 27, 2017) (online at 9 In Storni~Ravagecl Puerto Rico, Drinking Water in Short Simply, Reuters (Sept. 27, 2017) (online at '0 Could Recent Hurricanes Cause Reenzergence ofCliolera in Puerto Rico?, Baylor College of Medicine (Sept. 27, 2017) (online at ricol). The Honorable Trey Gowdy Page 3 Earlier this week, the hospital ran out of diesel, he says, and was without power between 6 pm. and 2 am. With no power, Cruz says the hospital was forced to discharge 40 patients. 1 The conditions in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which suffered blows from both Hurricanes Maria and Irma, are also dire. A massive number of residents remain without power, the hospital on St. Croix has been condemned, communications are extremely restricted, air and maritime transportation channels are only starting to reopen with limited Operating hours, and at least seven people have died. In St. CroiX, ?there is no clean water,? ?roads are still blocked by downed trees,? and ?[n]either landline phones nor cell phones are working yet.?12 As one American Red Cross Disaster Manager warned, ?the basic commodities are just not available in the Virgin Islands at this time.?13 In 2005, our former Chairman, Republican Tom Davis, led a major investigation by the Katrina Select Committee to examine the local, state, and federal response after Hurricane Katrina. Speaking on the mandate of the Committee at its first hearing, he stated: It?s a mandate to stop attacking or defendng government entities for partisan purposes and do the oversight we?re charged with doing. To investigate what went wrong and what went right. To do it by the book, and let the chips fall where they may. 14 We agree. Urgent action by our Committee now could help accelerate the federal response to the devastation in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and make a measurable and signi?cant difference in the lives of American families there. Oversight now also could help prevent a worsening of the human tragedy that is unfolding and could help ensure that the lessons our Committee identi?ed from past federal responses are implemented by the Trump Administration. Thank you for your consideration of this urgent request. 1? In Puert?o Rica, Relying on Luck and Enough Gas to Get Medical Care, National Public Radio (Sept. 26, 2017) (online at medical-care). '2 Virgin Islands Braeingfar Long Reccveiy A?er One-T 1-1-?0 Puncli from Irma, Maria, Fox News (Sept. 26, 2017) (online at mvw.foxnews.0011?usl20 1 ?3 SC Team Heads :0 U.S. Virgin Islands to Help Hurricane Victims, CBS News (Sept. 26, 2017) (online at 170). '4 Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation For and Response to Hurricane Katrina, Opening Statement of Chairman Tom Davis, Predicting Hurricanes: What We Knew About Katrina and Wren, 109th Cong. (Sept. 22, 2005) (online at The Honorable Trey Gowdy Page 4 Sincerely, Elija E. Cummings St cey E. asket Ranking Member Ranking ember Committee on Oversight and Subcommittee on the Interior, Government Reform Energy and the Environment