HONORING THE ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE WORKERS WHO HELPED RESTORE ELECTRICITY TO PUERTO RICO; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 94
(Extensions of Remarks - June 05, 2019)
Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E716]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING THE ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE WORKERS WHO HELPED RESTORE
ELECTRICITY TO PUERTO RICO
______
HON. RUBEN GALLEGO
of arizona
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Mr. GALLEGO. Madam Speaker, it is my privilege to honor the service
of dozens of Arizonans who worked around the clock to repair the Puerto
Rican electrical grid in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Their life-saving efforts helped restore food production,
transportation, education, and health care services.
In the fall of 2017, Irma and Maria struck Puerto Rico in quick
succession, less than two weeks apart. A Category 4 storm, Maria's 155
mph winds and rainfall compounded Irma's damage, and further devastated
an island that is deeply vulnerable to the extremes of climate change.
Flash floods and high winds damaged neighborhoods, houses, roads,
schools, and businesses in a matter of mere hours. The storm also
completely destroyed Puerto Rico's electric grid: 89 percent, or 2,100
miles of the island's transmission lines, and 24,000 miles of
distribution lines, were gone.
This was the largest blackout in United States history. All 3.4
million of our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico lost power, including
those for whom access to electricity can make the difference between
life and death. Thousands of citizens, for example, rely on electricity
for essential medical needs--to power their respirators, refrigerate
their insulin, and sustain their dialysis treatments.
In the wake of Maria's landfall, with death tolls rising to 2,700,
Puerto Ricans went to sleep each night in total darkness and
uncertainty. This is why we recognize the commitment of the 83 Arizona
Public Service line workers who, between January and March of 2018,
traveled 3,000 miles from Arizona to Puerto Rico to rebuild and
reenergize the island's electric grid. These Arizonans left their
families for more than six weeks to work alongside new friends and
fellow Americans in Puerto Rico. Together in partnership with Puerto
Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and 12 other public power
utilities, APS workers helped install 5,000 poles and 4,400 miles of
wire, restoring power to 97 percent of the island's residents.
I want to thank them for their service at a time of such dire need.
As Puerto Ricans continue to rebuild after the hurricane, residents
have rallied around the saying, ``Puerto Rico se levanta!''--Puerto
Rico is rising again! But the APS line workers who served in Puerto
Rico have demonstrated something more: ``Cuando Puerto Rico se levanta,
el mundo se levanta tambien.'' When Puerto Rico rises, the rest of the
world rises in tandem, alongside them.
____________________