Get It Done

Puerto Ricans are American citizens, got it? They have been since 1898 and if you don't know that, shame on you.

Now to you Mr. President, you are not doing a good job on the human catastrophe unfolding on the island of Puerto Rico, stop patting yourself on the back and mobilize the military. Stop saying ignorant things like, "you know Puerto Rico's an island, it's in the ocean a big ocean you can't drive your truck there". No kidding. That's what ships, planes and helicopters are for. You offered not a word of sympathy to the 3.4 million Americans facing death on that island. Only after you were hounded did you tweet out an attack on Puerto Rico's infrastructure and debt problems. Do you even know Puerto Rico is a part of the United States? You should, you've done business there.

Seven days in to this horrific situation and we are still not taking the actions necessary. There are FEMA workers there who have been held up by red tape waiting for their marching orders. There are massive containers of food and water sitting on docks, unable to be distributed because the roadways are blocked. Deploy the full resources of the U.S.Military including the Army Corps of Engineers. Send in the Marines to assure security. Get the sick, elderly and most vulnerable out of there now. Deploy the U.S.N.S Comfort and anchor it as far away from the coast as it needs and helicopter the patients to it. These are Americans Mr. President, they don't need "papers" to come to the mainland.

The Governor of New York has done more than you on this crisis Mr. President.

The Jones Act, which is formally the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, has been cited as one of the impediments to aid. The law requires all goods being transported between U.S. ports be on ships flying a U.S. Flag, be owned by a U.S. citizen and crewed by U.S. citizens. This act was suspended to aid Texas and Florida but was then reinstated. The Trump Administration has refused to waive the Act for Puerto Rico, actually stating casually, "some people are against it". I bet they are Mr. President, do your job and suspend the Jones Act indefinitely.

Here's a quick civics lesson. The United States has island territories allover the world, some inhabited, some uninhabited, except for our overt and covert military installations. The inhabitants of those territories are American citizens. You may go your entire life never hearing their names but they exist.