Take Action: Puerto Rico Trapped in Government Shutdown Debate

By Eric LeCompte

As Congress works to avoid a government shutdown, a crucial part of the debate is the funding for relief and recovery aid desperately needed for disaster victims in Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Florida, Texas and California.

Republican and Democratic leadership have told Jubilee USA that your phone calls and messages for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are making a BIG difference. Please act now.

Hurricane victims in Puerto and the US Virgin Islands are suffering as Congress debates a government shut down. Please send a message to your Senators and Representative and tell them Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands needs recovery funding to rebuild to withstand the next storm. Let Congress know that Puerto Rico needs debt relief. Tell them that US Citizens living in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands should be able to receive the same level of access to Medicaid, Medicare and child tax benefits that citizens can access who live in the States.

Because of the pressure we put on Congress in recent weeks, we stripped the final Congress tax package of an "excise" tax on Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Our collective action makes a big difference.

Send a message to Congress now. Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands need recovery funding to rebuild to withstand the next storm. Tell them Puerto Rico needs debt relief. US Citizens living in Puerto Rico should be able to access Medicaid, Medicare and child tax benefits that citizens can access who live in the States.‎

At the end of 2017, Jubilee USA and our partners hosted a prayer service in Congress for Puerto Rico. Supporting and participating groups included the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, United Church of Christ, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, Franciscan Action Network, the National Association of Evangelicals, Muslim Public Affairs Council and Islamic Relief. During the prayer service, Puerto Rico's Archbishop Roberto González Nieves reflected, "Puerto Rico desperately needs a complete debt relief, funding for rebuilding, and equal access to Medicare, Medicaid and child tax benefit funding. [...] Today we pray with the persistence and tenacity of the widow of the gospel; we pray full of hope that the miracle of compassion, openness toward and solidarity with Puerto Rico may come true."

Your calls and messages are urgently needed as Jubilee USA and our partners continue to walk the halls of Congress. Together we can win the aid and relief Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands desperately needs.