This past weekend, 36 Democratic members of Congress traveled to Puerto Rico—the largest congressional delegation ever to travel to the island. The purpose of their visit was to attend meetings sponsored by BOLD PAC, the super PAC that also raises funds for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Latino Victory Fund. The visit also coincided with the opening performance of the Puerto Rico run of the Broadway hit show Hamilton, which premiered in San Juan on Friday night.
The members of Congress met with local officials to discuss recovery efforts since Hurricane Maria, as well as the economy and the federal fiscal control board, which was appointed in 2016 to oversee the island’s longstanding debt crisis. According to CBS News, one lawmaker said the trip was vital to understanding the current reality in Puerto Rico. "It is more devastating than many of us realized. I'm glad that we came," Rep. Tony Cárdenas, D-California, told CBS News.
After discussions with local leaders and seeing the devastation first-hand, Cárdenas noted that the amount of congressionally approved funds to actually arrive in Puerto Rico is nothing short of “shocking.” He said that tens of billions have been approved, but that only a tiny amount has made its way there—contributing to the economic decline and death toll resulting from Hurricane Maria.
While congressional Democrats were in Puerto Rico, hearing from locals and strategizing how to improve the situation on the island, Republicans on the mainland were foaming at the mouth about the trip, looking for a reason to blame Democrats for a shutdown that they caused.
Just look at how far Trump and company will go to scapegoat Democrats. It’s laughable, but especially when it comes to Puerto Rico. When was the last time Republicans even mentioned the island at all or tried to help its residents? In fact, this is the most anyone in that party has talked about Puerto Rico since Trump took office—except for blaming Puerto Ricans for blowing Trump’s budget out of whack after Hurricane Maria, taking potshots at San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, and calling Puerto Ricans lazy.
They even resorted to lies about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi being on the trip. This turned out not to be true, and Trump’s bestie and Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro had to backtrack the lies she spewed about Pelosi during the weekend.
It’s worth noting that the entire purpose of bringing Hamilton to Puerto Rico, according to the show’s creator and star, Lin-Manuel Miranda, was to shine a spotlight on the island so that people there can finally get the help that they deserve. So instead of blaming Democrats for traveling there, contributing to the local economy and meeting with people, perhaps Republicans can take the hint and actually do something meaningful. Instead, they are busy proposing plans to divert disaster-aid funds from Puerto Rico to build their border wall.
It’s a good thing that Democrats finally got a large delegation to San Juan to really understand the reality on the ground. Because with Republicans in charge and no one to stop them, the island will continue to suffer indefinitely.