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Pelosi Statement on President Trump’s Comments on Disaster Funding Hold-Up

May 8, 2019

Contact: Speaker's Press Office, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement after President Trump's comments on disaster relief funding in Florida:

"This week, House Democrats are once again advancing a robust, $17.2 billion disaster relief package, which adds an additional $3 billion for communities, businesses and farms hit by the historic flooding in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and across the Midwest as well as for Southern states devastated by recent tornadoes. This critical funding builds on the emergency disaster relief that House Democrats passed in January for hard-hit communities across the country, despite House Republicans overwhelmingly opposing this urgently-needed funding.

"Sadly, Senate Republicans have been more committed to hurting our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico than healing communities everywhere. Meanwhile, the President has doubled down on Republicans' callousness, deliberately delaying assistance payments to Puerto Rico and inflicting more needless suffering on the Americans who are still reeling from his Administration's disastrous response to the hurricanes. And so, hard-hit communities from the Florida panhandle to the Midwest are stuck waiting for the GOP-controlled Senate to pass a bill to help them.

"We are now just weeks away from another hurricane season and Republicans continue to delay and play politics. When disaster strikes, all Americans deserve to know that their government is there for them. Democrats are taking strong and desperately-needed action to help every American family hit by disaster heal and rebuild – now, and during the long road to recovery."

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