Hurricanes, and firefighters in the west. Thesure passed 303 measure passed by a significant margin. Here is some of the debate. Gentleman from new jersey seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, i move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution h. Res. 569 providing for the concurrence by the house in the Senate Amendment to h. R. 2266 with an amendment. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title of the resolution. The clerk House Resolution 569, resolution providing for the concurrence by the house in the Senate Amendment to h. R. 2266 with an amendment. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. Frelinghuysen and the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. Lowey will each control 20 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. Mr. Frelinghuysen i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the consideration of h. Res. 569. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. Mr. Frelinghuysen i rise today to present House Resolution 569, a bill making additional supplemental appropriations for Disaster Relief requirements for the current fiscal year to help respond to recent devastating Natural Disasters. Over the past two months, millions of americans have had their lives forever altered by destructive hurricanes in texas, florida, puerto rico, and the Virgin Islands. By raging and by raging and tedly wildfires in the west. We all support those who were victimized, particularly those who lost lives, lost their lives or lost lowed ones and will continue to be with them every step of the way with the federal support they need as they recover and rebuild. Our thanks go to the first responders, volunteers and states, who have saved countless lives, protected communities and demonstrated the best of human tainity. That includes fema, the army corps of engineers, the department of defense, the coast guard, and many other federal agencies. For getting the first installment of relief to those in need. However, with such massive unprecedented damage, more help is needed. Clearly needed to continue to respond to these Recovery Efforts to rebuild communities with dollars, with resources, with manpower and with our support. This emergency funding legislation, the second installment, addresses urgent shortterm immediate priorities. Replenishing femas its aer relief fund, supporting ongoing federal wildlife suppression effort, providing debt relief for the federal Flood Insurance program, and other assistance that will help our fellow americans in their time of greatest need. To summarize, 36. 5 billion provided in this bill, in total 18. 7 billion is provided for the Disaster Relief fund. This includes 13. 77 billion for the most Immediate Response needs. Lifesaving missions, emergency protection, repair and restoration of Public Infrastructure like communications, power, transportation, and yes, shelter. And Financial Assistance to individuals and families affected as they rebuild their lives. This package also includes 4. 9 billion for Community Disaster loans which will ensure local governments are able to provide basic Municipal Service such as police and Fire Protection and public education. Throughout this trying time. In addition to these Disaster Relief funds, this bill provides a onetime payment of 1. 27 billion to allow puerto rico and our fellow citizens to receive the same access to emergency disaster Nutrition Program benefits that other states receive. The bill also ensures that the national Flood Insurance program is able to meet its existing claim obligations as americans cope with the tremendous flood damage to their homes and communities. For wildlife suppression, the as contains 576. 5 million we see in the situation out west has grown even more desperate and deadly. We must ensure that those heroic firefighters can continue to save lives and protect property. As we know, the needs of each disaster area are everchanging. Consequently, our Appropriations Committee and all of our members continue to monitor the progress of Recovery Efforts as well as anticipate emerging needs. This will be a long process, mr. Speaker. This second package package or installment of federal support will certainly in the be all that is needed over the long term. Mr. Speaker, i urge support of the of this bill, its important for the nation, for the communities affected, and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentlelady from new york is recognized. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, i yield myself two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized. Mrs. Lowey since Hurricane Harvey wrought historic flooding in texas, 12 major disasters have been declared. From a hurricane that damaged large swaths of florida, storms that annihilated puerto rico and the Virgin Islands, and wildfires burning in the west, americans deserve certainty the federal government will stand by them in their time of need. This is particularly important after the president threatened to abandon puerto rico in his latest twitter this morning. Congress cannot turn its back on recovery, no matter how reckless the president s outbursts may be. As americans, the suffering and simply trying as americans are suffering and simply trying to survive. This package provides critical Disaster Relief, Flood Insurance aid, and help for communities devastatedy wildfires. Puerto rico would be aided by provisions to address its liquidity pry sis, by facilitating recovery, not paying creditors and provide additional nutrition assistance. Additionally, the bill would continue aid to puerto rico and the Virgin Islands from the department of defense. However, more must be done to provide medium and longterm investments, including rebuilding ports, coastlines, airports, roads, bridges, repairing the electrical grid and other infrastructure and ensuring the health needs of american citizens are met. I urge your support for this bill and your continued focus on ensuring the full recovery of American Communities devastated by Natural Disasters. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady reserves. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Frelinghuysen i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from new york is recognized. Mrs. Lowey i yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, the distinguished Ranking Member of the commerce, justice, science subcommittee, mr. Serrano. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. Without objection, so ordered. Mr. Serrano i thank the Ranking Member. This bill is a first step in helping puerto rico and the Virgin Islands recover from the devastation of hurricane maria. It will provide fema and the government of the islands with the funds needed to address immediate relief needs. And begin the Recovery Process. I do want to thank the chairman and Ranking Member for their commitment to this issue. And for taking my phone calls at all different times, on weekends, youve been very helpful and very supportive. Both will be visiting the island tomorrow and will be able to see firsthand the dramatic and comprehensive needs that puerto rico is facing. Right now, 85 of the island still lacks electricity, more than three weeks after the hurricane hit. One third of the island doesnt have access to clean drinking water. Most of the island still lacks cellular service. Hampering Vital Information to deliver assistance in the area. Federal employees on the island now are doing important work and vital work but we need more boots on the ground. This Funding Provides them. With the resources needed to do that in the short term. But to succeed, there needs to be a commitment from the highest levels of government to ensure the recovery of all areas that are part of our nation, including its territories. Unfortunately, given the president s latest twitter rant, this morning, it seems unlikely that we have that focus and commitment. So it is up to us in congress to make sure that the federal government doesnt forget about puerto rico and that is what i intend to do in the days and months ahead. To both of you and to our membership here, i thank you for not forgetting puerto rico and this is an ongoing battle and ongoing issue. Thank you. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Frelinghuysen i am pleased to yield to mr. Ken calvert from california for two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Calvert more than enough, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, i rise in support of the supplemental appropriations bill. I want to commend chairman frelinghuysen and the Committee Staff for their quick and thorough work to put this supplemental package together and thank the leadership for its swift action in scheduling this for house consideration. In fiscal year 2017, the Forest Service had a shortfall of nearly 577 million in firefighting funds. To cover its immediate firefighting costs, the Forest Service borrowed from the nonfire programs as well as the department of the interior. The bill will replace and repay those borrowed funds and closes the books on fiscal year 2017. Specifically, it provides 526 million for the Forest Service and 50 million for the department of interior. The cost of fighting fires on the our National Forests and public lands have increased dramatically over the last 15 years and yet these fires and costs remain highly unpredictable. Right now in the west, the west is on fire. My home state of california, firefighters are battling 22 large wildfires have have burned nearly 170,000 acres. The bill gives the government the tools it needs to assist local officials to get those fires under control as soon as possible. We, the congress, need to fix the way we budget for wildland fire so Forest Service and department of the interior can focus on managing our federal lands appropriately. We also need to give them the necessary legal authorities and tools to improve the condition and management of our national forest. Mr. Speaker, i encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentlelady from new york is recognized. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, im pleased to yield one minute to the gentlewoman from california, the Ranking Member of the Homeland Security subcommittee, ms. Roybalallard. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. Ms. Roybalallard mr. Speaker, the past few months have witnessed one of the most devastating series of Natural Disasters ever endured by our country. They include hurricanes, raging wildfires in my home state of california that have killed at least 23 people, required Mass Evacuations and burned more than 170,000 acres and thousands of homes and businesses. By acting quickly on this emergency supplemental, we are sending the strong message that we are here for disaster victims, including our fellow citizens in puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands. But this is just a down payment. We still dont have the final damage estimates from many of the affected areas. In the coming weeks and months, we will need to once again support femas continued Recovery Efforts, including in puerto rico, despite the president s threats to abandon the people there. And there will be more to do to address funding unmet needs to the Community DevelopmentBlock Grant Program and other Disaster Relief programs. I encourage support for this bill and yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady yields back. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Frelinghuysen i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentlelady from new york is recognized. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, i am pleased to yield one minute to the gentlewoman from minnesota, the Ranking Member of the interior subcommittee, ms. Mccollum. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized. Ms. Mccollum mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. Ms. Mccollum i rise in support of this funding package. This bill is a down payment on the recovery from the recent fires and hurricanes. I am pleased it contains 176. 5 million to fully repay the funds that the u. S. Forest service borrowed last fiscal year to pay for wildfire suppression. Weve all seen the devastation and the tragic loss of life from large fires burning across our country. Fiscal year 2017 was the most expensive year on record for wildfire suppression, costing 2. 4 billion. The duration, the severity of wildfires grows, the costs will continue to rise. Unfortunately, once again weve missed the opportunity to fix the way the federal Government Funds wildfire suppression. Let me be clear. The next supplemental must include a legislative fix for wildfire strength and we must adequately spending and we must adequately support the department of the interior to help our country rebuild from the recent fires and hurricanes. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady yields back. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Frelinghuysen mr. Speaker, im pleased to yield six minutes to the gentlewoman from puerto miss jembings nni jenniffer gonzalez. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized. Miss gonzalezcolon i want to thank the Appropriations Committee allow the federal government to help us in this dire situation. On behalf of the 3. 4 million american citizens that lives in puerto rico, nearly the 5. 5 Puerto Ricans that lives in the mainland, i rise today in strong support of this disaster supplemental appropriations bill. They have been focused on puerto rico since before the arrival of hurricane irma, and then during hurricane maria. I want to thank all my colleagues from both sides of the aisle who has reached out during these past three weeks to express their encouragement and actually offer their assistance during this process. For that and my constituents we will always be grateful for all members of this house. As you may know right now, puerto rico was hit by two major hurricanes irma, which cost significant damage in the eastern part of the island, that was on september 6. Then on september 20, a few days later, we got hit by hurricane maria. That caused unprecedented destruction throughout the whole island and which many people considered that hurricane to be the most catastrophic Natural Disaster ever in u. S. Soil. Today, 22 days after the storm hit, nearly 85 of our population remains without power. 44 without running water. And almost 58 without access to communications. To this date, we still have towns like las marias, many others in the central part of the island that remain uncommunicated and can only be accessed by air since most of the roads and bridges were washed away. We are talking about more than 18 major roads and bridges that were just washed away. He death toll has reached 48 fatalities. And its certain that number will increase during the coming days and weeks. This unplus dented humanitarian crisis in our own nation has begun what is likely to evolve in a mass exodus of Puerto Ricans to the u. S. Mainland. Jeopardizing the islands longterm recovery. Mr. Speaker, i stand here today telling you that the american citizens that lives in puerto rico still are suffering in different ways. This is not the time to focus on how and when the resources will how we will rebuild the island. Today, 85 of our island is without electricity. Yet, 3. 4 million american citizens living there just got less than 15,000 people working to recover the power grid. I just want to remind you that florida got more than 61,000 people helping to recover their power grid in just power days. That is not acceptable in our case. And we are still american citizens. I know a lot of problems persist. Its too difficult to address the issue when you are not part of the mainland. You are not part of the power grid. Its different when you get access and resources to texas, louisiana or florida because you can even drive or you can have helicopters. In our case, everything is by ship or air. That means its more difficult to the federal government to assist directly. Thats the reason we got more than 15,000 personnel from the coast guard, national guard, army corps of engineers, fema, navy and the assistance of all national guards, virginia, new york, just to name a few. The puerto rican communities in the states and on the island are showing