CHN is urging members of the U.S. Senate to take immediate steps to pass a disaster relief bill. CHN is calling on senators to pass a bill before Memorial Day recess that includes nutrition assistance funds for Puerto Rico and other territories in need; Medicaid funds for the U.S. territories of Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa; disaster funds for states, territories, and tribes; and humanitarian aid to assist unaccompanied minor children.

“For months, we have become increasingly concerned as the Senate has failed to enact aid,” CHN Executive Director Deborah Weinstein said in a letter sent to every member of the Senate. “This failure has caused a drastic reduction in Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP) benefits for 1.4 million people in Puerto Rico starting in March.  It has delayed needed aid to many states and territories afflicted by hurricanes, typhoons, flooding, and wildfires.  Enactment of a new supplemental disaster appropriations bill is long overdue – the Senate must act now.”

Weinstein noted that not every disaster can be prevented, but “it is unconscionable that a slow federal response has made conditions worse. It is our nation’s duty to support those whose lives and livelihood are threatened by acts of nature, and it is our moral obligation to meet the needs of all people, not just the politically powerful.

She closed by noting that Hurricane season is right around the corner – it begins on June 1.

You can read the letter in its entirety here.