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Puerto Rico Suffers As Disaster Relief Bill Stalls

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Residents sit outside the Plaza del Mercado in the Rio Piedras area of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Carlos Giusti/AP)
Residents sit outside the Plaza del Mercado in the Rio Piedras area of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Carlos Giusti/AP)

A $13-billion disaster relief bill is in limbo in the Senate, because of a fight over funding for Puerto Rico. Democrats have been pushing for more money for the U.S. territory as it recovers from Hurricane Maria, but President Trump is refusing.

Here & Now's Peter O'Dowd speaks with Federico de Jesús, former deputy director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, about the continuing need for aid for the island. De Jesús also worked in communications for former President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and he now runs the consulting company FDJ Solutions.

This segment aired on April 19, 2019.

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