FEMA insular plan for COVID-19?

Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva and I, as Vice Chair for Insular Areas, sent a letter Wednesday to FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor seeking information on the administration’s COVID-19 response plans for the U.S. territories. The Northern Marianas and other territories have relatively smaller, weaker economies and have recently been devastated by severe natural disasters. The insular areas now also face unique COVID-19 challenges due to our geographic location, unequal treatment under federal programs, and critical financial situation. Our weakened health care infrastructure significantly limits our ability to effectively respond to additional emergencies putting many American lives at particular risk. We ask Gaynor to brief Committee Members no later than April 15 on their plans to assist the territories amid this unprecedented public health crisis. Chair Grijalva and I also recently wrote an op-ed calling for a collaborative coronavirus response for the territories in which we noted that the pandemic has put a spotlight on many communities America has long ignored.