NOTE: I received notice about this press conference this morning but was unable to attend.  I press person for Senator Blumenthal to comment on the recently found warehouses of aid kept from those in need from the hurricane.   I have not heard back.

HARTFORD, CT – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), and U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), John Larson (D-CT), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Jim Himes (D-CT), and Jahana Hayes (D-CT) called on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to immediately remove undue restrictions and delays placed on $16.5 billion in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster mitigation and recovery funds for Puerto Rico.

Inexcusably delayed by over two years, and almost five months after the statutory deadline, HUD’s notice laying out guidelines for the disbursement of the $8.3 billion in disaster mitigation funds came alongside burdensome conditions in the grant agreement for the remaining $8.2 billion in disaster recovery funds. Such delays and restrictions were not imposed on any of the other nine states that received similar funding. HUD’s notice and grant agreement come as the island continues to grapple with recovery from multiple natural disasters.

“The federal government has an obligation to treat Puerto Rico like every other state and territory.  Our fellow Americans on the island have every right to access disaster funding free from egregious, unique, and discriminatory preconditions or delays.  We demand that HUD cease its obstruction and amend the grant agreement to withdraw current restrictions immediately,” the officials wrote.

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