Refinitiv Newscasts - President Biden delivers remarks in Puerto Rico 1

NVE

04/10/2022 01:15

Click the following link to watch video: https://share.newscasts.refinitiv.com/link?entryId=1_i3q8mtkp&referenceId=1_i3q8mtkp&pageId=RefinitivNewscasts
Source: Reuters

Description: U.S. President Joe Biden visits Puerto Rico as it recovers from
the impact of Hurricane Fiona.
Short Link: https://refini.tv/3M9l7wE

Video Transcript:

>> [inaudible 00:16:35] >> Mic check, 1, 2. Testing 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2. This is
your final mic check. Mic check 1, 2. Let me know. Give me thumbs up when
you're good. Everybody is good? I was pretty quick. Everybody good. Money,
money. Testing one, two. Mic check, one, two. Mic check, one two. Mic check
one, two. Testing 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2. Everybody got this one 1, 2, 1, 2,
1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2. >> [inaudible 00:34:47] >> And I have frozen. >> [inaudible
00:35:00] >> More. >> [inaudible 00:35:09] >> Hope we're here somewhere. >>
I'll start. >> [inaudible 00:51:17] , good afternoon. Mr. President, I want to
officially welcome you and First Lady Jill Biden to Puerto Rico. We're honored
to have you here. The people of Puerto Rico are very grateful for your
steadfast support and highly appreciate your visit. Particularly, as we
recover from Hurricane Fiona. I must highlight that this visit is not an
isolated incident. It is yet another example of your commitment to the
well-being of the American citizens of Puerto Rico, which you, Mr. President,
and your administration have demonstrated with concrete actions for the past
19 months. That support has included total collaboration from cabinet members
in key federal agencies, as well as targeted initiatives in important policy
areas, such as education, renewable energy, and economic development. Now, in
Puerto Rico's time of need, the Biden administration has been working closely
with us since before the hurricane hit us. As I have mentioned to the
President, FEMA's collaboration has been instrumental to our island's
reconstruction efforts, and that has helped put our people and Puerto Rico
back on their feet. My team and I provided the President and his staff with
the detailed briefing of where we are with respect to the recovery from
Hurricane Fiona, and described the challenges and opportunities on which we
must work together. This is crucial in order to be able to efficiently provide
our residents equitable access to essential services and achieve their
resiliency in our infrastructure that we need. To that end, I have made a
request to President Biden to amend the major disaster declaration, to provide
an additional period of 180 days of 100% funding for debris removal, emergency
protective measures, and direct federal assistance. Right now, Puerto Rico is
in a full recovery mode. Just two weeks after Fiona, 93% of Puerto Ricans have
electricity and 98% have water service. We have been able to provide safe
passage to all communities whose access roads or bridges were affected, and
everyone who was housed in a shelter has either returned to their home or has
been provided temporary housing. All 78 Puerto Rican municipalities were
included in the major disaster declaration, and more than 800,000 residents of
Puerto Rico have registered with FEMA to claim individual assistance. Our
efforts to combat poverty are especially important after a disaster like
Hurricane Fiona, in which so many vulnerable families lost their homes and
belongings. Thus, I have asked FEMA to provide immediate access to the
supplies in its local warehouses to our government and the 94 local
non-governmental organizations operating community hubs on our island. On the
other hand, we must leverage the recent advances we have made in the ongoing
reconstruction due to Hurricane Maria five years ago. So it is crucial that
all projects stemming from the impact of Hurricane Fiona be incorporated in
our previous projects in a cohesive and strategic manner. In addition, since
so much of the damage by Fiona's flooding was on our transportation
infrastructure, we have requested that FEMA treat the reconstruction of our
roads and bridges as critical infrastructure in its recovery policy. We also
talked about additional ways, in which the federal government can assist us in
advancing the transformation of our electric system and achieving our
renewable energy generation goals by 2050, consistent with the Memorandum of
Understanding we signed last February with key federal agencies. This
initiative will help us promote microgrids and distributed energy in remote
areas, improve our power sector resiliency, and increase access to more
affordable energy and cleaner air. Finally, we spoke of the need to prioritize
US Army Corps of Engineers' flood control projects to mitigate further damages
from potential additional storms. The corp's ongoing or potential projects
cover areas that suffered damages during Hurricane Fiona, such as the area
surrounding Rio de la Plata, Rio Puerto Nuevo, Rio Grande de Arecibo, Rio
Nigua, Rio Guanajibo, and Rio Inabon here in Ponce. Other areas, we must
prioritize our aid to our farmers, climate change mitigation initiatives like
coastal erosion and coral restoration projects, and adequate funding for our
health care programs. In short, my asks to you, Mr. President, are
straightforward. We want to be treated in the same way as our fellow Americans
in the States in times of need. All American citizens regardless of where they
live in the United States should receive the same support from the federal
government. We're confident that the President will heed our call for equal
treatment because that is consistent with his priorities and his policies.
Again, I want to thank President Biden and the First Lady for their visit and
for his administration's support for Puerto Rico's recovery. Thank you. >>
[inaudible 00:59:29] >> I would like to extend our warmest welcome and express
our appreciation to the President and the First Lady for their visit to the
municipality of Ponce, which is where I'm from and where I have lived my
entire life. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Maritzaida Pacheco Cosme and I
work at Centros Sor Isolina Ferre, located in La Playa de Ponce. The Centors
were founded by sister Isolina Ferre, a missionary woman whose legacy of love
and service we try to honor with our work and dedication. Our communities and
Puerto Rico have experienced countless hardships. Hurricane Maria was
devastating. We wanted to recover and rebuild. After that, we were struck hard
by earthquakes, the pandemic, and most recently by Hurricane Fiona. We have
not been able to fully recover. Hurricane Maria was terrible. We lost
everything, and some people even lost family members. Mine was one of the
families that had to seek refuge in the mainland with the purpose of bringing
stability to our families. But something told me that I had to come back to
Puerto Rico. And it was then that the Centros Sor Isolina Ferre gave me the
opportunity to become part of this amazing team. I have learned a lot during
these years. There's no doubt we are a resilient and hard working people. When
one looks at our communities from the standpoint of privilege, it all sounds
like an exaggeration. But when you dive deeper into them, you realize that the
problems are much greater than one thinks. But as sister said, serving is our
way of talking, and that is how we will continue to do what we do every day
until we lift up our communities and our island of Puerto Rico. I want to
thank President Biden and first lady Jill Biden for their visit. I'm also
grateful for the support and assistance that they have provided so far. I hope
they're able to understand our most basic needs. And I'm deeply honored today
to be able to introduce President Joe Biden. >> Thank you. My name is Joe
Biden, and I don't want the headline to read, Biden bring storm to Puerto
Rico. I'm going to maybe have to cut this little short. Let me start off by
saying that Jill and I, and thank you very much for that lovely introduction.
Jill and I we're anxious to be here. I come from a little State, the little
State of Delaware. It's not like the Congressman from New York. She's in the
big state. But we have a very relative terms, large Puerto Rican population in
Delaware, relative to our population. We have the eighth largest black
population in the country, and between all minorities, we have 20% of our
state is minority. And so I was raised in the Puerto Rican community at home
politically, and so we came here for a long time, both for business and
pleasure since you're part of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and Delaware
is as well and I was chairman of Judiciary Committee. I spent a lot of time in
the northern part of the state. But look, it's people like you who do so much
for your community and they're going to make such a big difference as Puerto
Rico rebuilds. Thank you, Governor for your partnership as we work together to
help rebuild Puerto Rico, and I mean, rebuild it all and rebuild it in a
resilient way. So we don't want storms come again, which they will, and not
have the damage they cause before. I want to thank the members of Congress,
and local officials, community leaders who have joined us today ever since the
hurricane struck. Jill and I have had people in Puerto Rico in our minds and
in our prayers. We came here in person to show that we're with you. All of
America is with you as you receive, and recover, and rebuild. I'm confident
we're going to be able to do all you want, Governor, and I'm committed to this
island. Puerto Rico has been through so much in recent years; Hurricane Maria,
five years ago a 6.4 magnitude earthquake, two years ago. The folks slept
outside for days, worried about their homes would collapse on them if they
went in. Then COVID-19, and then Fiona. And yes, Puerto Rico is a strong
place, and Puerto Ricans are strong people. But even so, you have had to bear
so much and more than need be, and you haven't gotten the help on a timely
way. And this latest storm dealt a serious blow to all. All the the hard work
had been done since Maria. Roads and bridges built after Maria had been washed
away again. Families who spent their savings to build new homes after losing
their last ones have seen them flooded away. Crops decimated, farms destroyed.
Here in Ponce and communities nearby have been hit the hardest. And then for
days, people live without power, without water, some still doesn't have no
idea when it'd be back again. And for everyone who survived Maria, Fiona must
have been an all too familiar nightmare. You know better than anyone that over
time, these losses add up. And so Puerto Ricans have lost loved ones in the
storm and in the perilous disasters. And the number can't fill abstract.
Sometimes you hear a number, but every number is a person, every life lived.
We read the obituaries and remembrances, and they all feel like people we
knew. Doting grandparents, devoted parents, Christian children, long-time
neighbors, people who cared about their community and made a difference. No,
will not be forgotten. And then through these disasters, so many people have
been displaced from their homes, lost their jobs and savings or suffered
injuries, often unseen but many times seen. Yet somehow, the people of Puerto
Rico keep getting back up with resilience and determination. Quite frankly,
it's pretty extraordinary when you look it from afar, and you deserve every
bit of help your country can give you. That's what I'm determined to do and
that's what I promise you. After Maria, Congress approved billions of dollars
for Puerto Rico, much of it not having gotten here, initially. We're going to
make sure you get every single dollar promised, and I'm determined to help
Puerto Rico build faster than in the past, and stronger and better prepared
for the future. And that's why I approved emergency declaration in Puerto Rico
before the hurricane. Governor remember my call on you before the hurricane
made landfall, to deliver immediate federal funding, to shelter people and
provide essential support. Just a few days later, I approved and expedited
major disaster declaration. That means federal government will cover 100% of
the cost to clear debris, and carry out search and rescue, and continue to
shelter people. It also means homeowners, renters, business owners are
eligible to apply for federal help to recover damage and losses caused by
Hurricane Fiona. The federal government can provide individual assistance for
up to $37,900 for essential home repairs, another 37,900 for loss property as
the law calls for, like a car or a refrigerator. Additionally, we've deployed
more than 1,200 personnel from FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, the US Coast
Guard, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency. They
include search and rescue teams to assist survivors and power restoration
experts. Power is now back, as you pointed out governor, 92% of the island,
and water is back at 95% of the island. Thanks in part to dedicated IBEW
workers and federal support staff. Now we have to get through 100%. And here
at this facility, you can see some of the generators from FEMA and the Army
Corps of Engineers that were transported into places that still don't have
power. Here, they're loaded onto trucks and brought to locations and the
hospitals and in the shelters, paired with fuel trucks so generators can be
gassed up on site. My administration has also provided financial assistance to
help families and individuals right away. Many families are scrambling to pay
their bills right now to fill up their gas tank, to put food on the table.
They can register at FEMA cash assistance for 700 bucks to help cover the
essentials for just a little while. So far nearly 200,000 households across
Puerto Rico have received this cash assistance. $700 won't replace what you
lost, not even close, but it can help take care of some of the little basics
while you catch your breath and get back on your feet. And FEMA has made the
crisis counselors available, whether you're a survivor or a first responder.
If you need help or just someone to talk to, people are here for you. The
hotline number is 800-981-0023. I'll say it again, 800-981-0023. Don't be
embarrassed to call. Whether you're Spanish or English speaking, counselors
will be standing by to help you. At times like these, Americans come together,
and I'm grateful for our personnel of FEMA and other agencies for the hard
work these past few weeks. Many of our FEMA staff has been pointed out are
Puerto Rican. They've been working 24/7 to get help to people across the
island, while also scrambling to help their own families and neighbors. I want
to recognize the local first responders, including Puerto Rico National Guard,
who have been working around the clock, and I mean it literally round the
clock. They've been through a lot the past five years. I want to applaud the
Red Cross volunteers who came as far away as California, Louisiana, Minnesota,
Texas to help however they can. And New York sent not only a Congress, one of
the most congresswoman in the Congress, but their state troopers and emergency
responders. I don't think you're going to be staying the whole time. Anyway,
all kidding aside, New Jersey sent their all hazardous and their management
teams training for hurricane responses. These states are home to two of the
largest Puerto Rican population in the United States, New York and New Jersey,
and their sisters and brothers in Puerto Rico needed them and they answered
the call. Most of all, I want to recognize the heroism and selflessness of so
many people across Puerto Rico. The main story that has been reported is the
storm. But there's another story. What ordinary people did when the storm hit.
Literally the day after the hurricane, that day after, churches and community
organizations opened a network of kitchens across the island to cook hot food
for anyone who needed it. Folks delivered food to the elderly who are
housebound. They started their generators. They shared their generators with
neighbors who had medicine that needed to be refrigerated. They organized
activities for kids to give their exhausted parents a break. They arranged
canvases to bring food, water and other supplies and commodities and access to
communities cut short as a consequence of landslide and flooding and couldn't
be reached. And during the storm when the waters are rising, people went to
extraordinary lengths to help each other survive. We've seen people using a
raft and a boat tied to a rope to brave the raging waters and rescue neighbors
trapped in their homes. They aren't paratroopers or search and rescue
professionals, they are neighbors. They are just regular folks ready and
willing to do whatever they could do when their help was needed, when a
neighbor was in trouble. And thanks to them all the people of Puerto Rico.
This recovery from Fiona is underway. I'm encouraged by all the stories
they're opening up the hospitals that are kept running, the supply chains that
helps steady and the debris has already begun to be cleared on roads across
the island and we will continue the debris coverage. Still we have to do more.
We have to ensure that when the next hurricane strikes, Puerto Rico is ready.
Today I'm announcing more than $60 million in funding to help coastal areas in
Puerto Rico become better prepared for the store. For example, we can create a
flood warning system to help shore up levees and flood walls. In addition,
there's nearly 700 million infrastructure investments in Puerto Rico that have
already been announced since I signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law last
November. For example, we've worked at $90 million to upgrade PR to highway
and we've announced $163 million to begin construction on a canal and restore
Martine Painter, that entire ecosystem. We're going to clean up polluting
waters and restore mitigation, habit, mangrove habitats, and bring back marine
life. You're going to see investments like these increasing significantly in
the months ahead. We're investing in Puerto Rico's roads, bridges, public
transit, ports, airports, water safety, and high-speed Internet. We know that
the climate crisis and more extreme weather, it's going to continue to hit
this island and hit the United States overall and as we rebuild, we have to
ensure that we build it to last. We're particularly focused on the power grid.
This year to date, Puerto Rico has received four million to help make the
power grid more resilient. That number is going to go up as we conveyed to the
Governor, I'm ready to deploy an expedite more resources from the Department
of Energy and other federal agencies. I don't usually talk this fast but it
looks like it's moving quickly. To help transform the entire system so the
Puerto Rican people get clean, reliable, affordable power than you need and
the power stays in homes and hospitals when the storms like Fiona strike. That
includes many grids which she can begin to deploy soon. So we are less
dependent on transmission lines across the long distances and more redundancy
when the storms hit. The goal was lower energy bills and more reliable power
for Puerto Rican households. Additionally, I've asked the Secretary of Energy,
Jennifer Granholm, was a first-rate person to lead a supercharged effort
across the entire federal government. She's going to put in place the Puerto
Rican grid recovery modernization team to bring to bear all the federal
resources and technical assistance and additional support for Puerto Rico, and
will help as you work to repair your grid quickly and drive decisive progress
on the game plan for Puerto Rico's clean energy transformation. I also know
many people in Puerto Rico have many family and friends in Florida. Your
hearts are with them right now and their hearts are with you. Jill and I will
be in Florida on Wednesday and as I've made clear at times like these our
nation comes together, put aside our political differences and get to work. We
show up when we need it because if we lost our home, if we lost a loved one,
we'd hoped that people would show up for us as well. And I want the people of
Puerto Rico to know my entire administration is committed to standing with you
every step of the way as long as it takes. And the White House reception honor
and Hispanic history month. US Army chaplain and Catholic priest, proud son of
Puerto Rico, offered a prayer for all those who suffered through the
hurricane, including Puerto Rico. Here's what he said, ''Give us generous
hearts. We may continue to use our gifts to support them.'' Well, the people
in Puerto Rico have generous hearts and that's what they get through this.
We're returned to generosity and that's the generous hearts that the rest of
the country are going to make sure we continue to provide. But I want to say
it again. We are not leaving here as long as I'm President until everything. I
mean this sincerely, that every single thing that we can do is done. God bless
you all and for all of you who are hurt and may God protect our troops and all
those brave souls ERISA lives to help others survive this tragedy. And I
usually don't quite talk this fast, but it looks like we made it. Thank you
very much. You may on bring up the kind your mind go. I was up in New York
with the mayor and with the governor. And what they wanted to talk to me
about, they wanted to talk to me about Puerto Rico. We sat there and so it is
one of the best Congress persons in the entire Congress. Are you born here? >>
Yes, I was born here and my entire family is here. Nine brothers and sisters.
>> Nine brothers and sisters. God bless you. I tell you what, my mother used
to think that anybody who had that many children, we only had four. She'd say
no purgatory for mum straight to him. >> Thank you for being here. >> Thank
you. >> We love you. >> Thanks, everybody. We're going to get this done. We
really are. We're going to move in quickly. Thanks everybody, I really mean
it. Thank you very much. >> [inaudible 01:50:19] >> Move the **** away.
[inaudible 02:05:55] >> I thought we were going to walk through a rumble,
[inaudible 02:09:01]. >> Going to get it. >> [inaudible 02:13:23] >> Before
[inaudible 02:13:23] they got it out. [inaudible 02:13:27] >> [inaudible
02:28:18] >> Again. >> [inaudible 02:28:31] I guess. You guys out there? >> I
got you. >> Can I carry anything? >> Oh, no, we're good. Yeah. >> Are you
sure? >> Yeah. >> You want to take the tripod? >> No. >> [inaudible 02:29:32]
all the time. >> You got that right. >> Have a safe trip, guys. >> Have a safe
trip. >> Thank you so much. >> See you later. >> Bye. >> Have a safe trip. >>
The live is at 87%. Had on the whole time. >> I heard no complaints about
that. >> They left a note there. >> You also charge [inaudible 02:30:11] >>
Yeah, [inaudible 02:30:12] >> So sweaty. >> Wish I can stand in the rain. >> I
want to be seen in the rain. >> I'm driving. >> He's getting his picture
taken. >> He's driving, man. >> Yeah. >> Take a steady shot. >> Can't believe
he didn't even talk. >> Okay. He's right here. >> I know he talked to these
people. >> Talk where? >> He met with leaders, I guess. >> Yeah. It's my money
now. [inaudible 02:31:13] >> Yeah. I'll text you the number to [inaudible
02:32:05] >> I think they went back in the building to do [inaudible 02:32:46]
inside. >> Drivers? >> Huh? >> Are you talking about the drivers? >> The
driver. They did all the theatrics in there. You just post a good picture. >>
Yeah, he said they're doing driver photos. >> I'm not