In the News

With a new report suggesting that at least 4,700 people died as a result of Hurricane Maria, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, urged the Trump administration this week to make sure federal funds sent to Puerto Rico are used to secure health care infrastructure and reach those most in need.

The Springfield Democrat, who called the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health-funded report's results "staggering," noted that many of the deaths attributed to the hurricane related to a lack of health care available to the chronically ill and elderly. 

That, he argued, is why it's necessary for the White House to ensure that federal funding supports infrastructure needed for utility services critical to the health care system.

"It is imperative that the Trump administration ensures federal funds are reaching those in need so that infrastructure that supports utility services critical to health care delivery is secure now and for the future," he said in a statement. 

Neal, who has worked with other Massachusetts colleagues on Capitol Hill to secure the necessary federal response to help Americans impacted by September hurricanes, further pledged to continue such efforts.

"I will continue to stand with the people of Puerto Rico so they have what they need to recover and rebuild from Hurricane Maria and as they prepare for hurricane season right around the corner," he said.

The Harvard study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Tuesday, suggested that as many as 5,000 people died in Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria and its aftermath -- 70 times the government's official death count of 64.

It attributed about a third of those deaths to limited access to medical care, noting that chronically ill patients are "particularly vulnerable to disruptions in basic utilities."

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, argued that the federal government's death count for Hurricane Maria "is either the result of shocking incompetence or a deliberate underestimation."

"Someone must be held accountable," he tweeted Wednesday.

Neal, who has faced criticism over his efforts to help Western Massachusetts residents impacted by the hurricanes, sat down with Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello in Washington last month to discuss the island's recovery efforts and challenges facing evacuees who have yet to return to their homes. 

The congressman also met with former Puerto Rico Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock and Ponce Mayor Mayita Melendez about the island's ongoing recovery efforts in April.

He traveled to the island with other members of Massachusetts' congressional delegation in January. 

Following the trip, Neal asked Trump administration officials to provide an update on the federal government's efforts to restore electricity and other basic services in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, raising concerns that Republican leaders had fallen short in appropriating funds requested for recovery efforts.