Jenniffer González-Colón

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the achievements and contributions of Puerto Rican broadcast journalist and news anchor Sylvia Gomez, after a career spanning over fifty years.

Sylvia Gomez was a pioneer in broadcast journalism in Puerto Rico, starting in this field at a time when the opportunities for women had barely began to become available. She was able to find valuable mentors among seasoned figures and prove herself in the field and on the air, soon establishing herself in reporting, interviewing, and anchoring as part of the news teams in the San Juan media market.

She has since been a constant presence in Puerto Rico TV screens, starting in public television and making her way through our major news outlets becoming an anchorwoman and a lead investigative reporter, eventually leading to a 44-year career at Telemundo WKAQ-TV.

Her reporting on environmental issues helped set the standard for such coverage and earned her numerous recognitions inside and outside the industry, with over 15 awards from press organizations, including a Silver Circle Emmy awarded by the Suncoast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2022.

I also want to highlight her principled fight against age discrimination by media employers, an issue that disproportionately impacts women in this field. Her stand on this subject bore witness to her integrity, strength and courage, and will certainly lead to a better workplace for many in the future. She has been an example to be followed, showing how one can and should continue fighting for your rights and the rights of others.

Sylvia is now moving on to enjoy a different stage of her life. I know she will continue to be a valuable member of Puerto Rico's community, and today I applaud her outstanding work, thank her for her commitment to what she saw as right and true to keep us informed, and wish her all the best moving forward.

Mr. Speaker, for the last eight years, I've had the privilege and honor to serve the people of Puerto Rico as their sole Member of Congress.

During this time, we faced significant challenges. In early September 2017, a few months into my first term, Puerto Rico was hit by Hurricane Irma, followed two weeks later by Hurricane Maria--the strongest hurricane to make landfall on the Island in over 80 years--which completely devastated our communities, destroyed our infrastructure, and produced the largest power blackout in U.S. history.

In late 2019, Puerto Rico's southern region began experiencing a seismic sequence that ended with a 6.4 magnitude earthquake on January 7th, 2020. This further damaged public and private infrastructure and left residents of the area in a constant state of fear and uncertainty.

And in 2020, like the rest of the world, we were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

These were all formidable challenges for Puerto Rico that needed to be addressed with a strong sense of urgency, and we met them head-on.

Working alongside my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, we secured historic levels of federal funding to assist Puerto Rico's recovery process. These include nearly $73.5 billion in hurricane- relief funding, $1.6 billion to address the impact of the earthquakes, and close to $44.1 billion in pandemic relief allocations.

As we worked to respond to these emergencies, we also had to focus on other competing but equally important priorities. Chief among them was addressing the Medicaid funding gap that provides health care coverage for 1.5 million residents in Puerto Rico.

I'm proud that during my time in Congress we were able to secure $29.5 billion to stabilize Puerto Rico's Medicaid program while increasing the federal matching rate, more recently from 55 to 76 percent.

I'm also proud that we were able to address longstanding disparities under federal programs to help combat poverty and grow the economy. For example, we were able to include Puerto Rico in the Child Tax Credit for families with one or two children, who did not previously qualify, and secured a $600 million annual federal funding allocation to supplement the Island's local Earned Income Tax Credit.

I'm also pleased to have secured $33.7 million in Community Project Funding for 29 local projects across Puerto Rico. And as a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I supported the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, under which Puerto Rico is expected to receive at least $2.2 billion over five years.

I've also introduced legislation to provide the Island equal treatment under critical programs like SNAP, Medicaid and Medicare, SSI, and EITC.

I've led efforts to resolve our political status dilemma and end our territorial status. This is

the underlying reason behind most of the social, economic, and fiscal challenges we've faced and what allows the federal government to treat our 3.2 million American citizens unequally under federal laws and programs.

I led negotiations on the Puerto Rico Status Act, which passed the House with bipartisan support in December 2022 and would have authorized a binding plebiscite among the constitutionally viable, nonterritorial status options--statehood or independence.

This bill served as the basis for the local referendum held this past November 5th, in which Puerto Rico supported statehood with 57 percent of the votes. This is the fourth time since 2012 that we have voted to express our desire to become a permanent part of the Union.

Mr. Speaker, these are just a few of the issues I have worked on, but I just want to thank the people of Puerto Rico for giving me the opportunity to serve as their voice in Congress.

I also thank my colleagues, who've worked with me, visited the Island, and have taken the time to understand and support our needs and federal priorities.

I thank my family, especially my husband, Jose, and our children, who inspire me to work harder every day.

There is much to be done and much progress to look forward to in Puerto Rico. As I begin to serve as Governor early next year, I look forward to remaining engaged with Congress to continue advocating for the Island, responsibly expedite the use of recovery funds, and foster economic growth.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 9598, the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2024, of which I am an original cosponsor.

I am pleased this legislation includes my bill, H.R. 920, the Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy Act, to combat drug trafficking from the Caribbean region into the United States with a particular focus on Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The smuggling of illicit drugs across our Nation's borders poses a major threat to our communities, fueling both the overdose epidemic and drug-related violent crime. To tackle this, Congress has tasked the Office of National Drug Control Policy, or ONDCP, with overseeing and coordinating the Federal Government's counterdrug efforts.

This includes the development and implementation of the National Drug Control Strategy every 2 years. By law, this strategy must also include supplemental strategies to prevent drug trafficking across the southwest and the northern border.

In response to congressional directives placed in appropriations reports, ONDCP has also previously released strategies to combat the flow of illegal drugs coming through our third border in the Caribbean.

However, unlike the existing statutory requirement to issue the Southwest Border and the Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategies, there is currently no requirement in statute to develop this Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy despite the ongoing threats we face from drug traffickers operating in the region.

For instance, according to data shared by the U.S. Coast Guard with my office, the known maritime cocaine flow in the U.S. moving through the Caribbean grew from 652 metric tons in fiscal year 2020 to 950 metric tons in fiscal year 2023, an almost 46 percent increase in this 4-year period.

This proves that transnational criminal organizations continue to rely on Caribbean smuggling routes to transport illegal drugs and endanger communities across the Nation.

Nowhere is this risk more apparent than in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, home to 3.3 million Americans and where the illicit activities of drug traffickers contribute to violence and higher-than- average homicide rates.

Just in fiscal year 2023 alone, Federal law enforcement authorities seized over 80,000 kilograms of drugs in and around the two territories. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are also used as transshipment points to smuggle drugs into the mainland.

Law enforcement agencies estimate that anywhere between 70 and 80 percent of the drugs that enter Puerto Rico are then transported to the continental U.S. This underscores that the threats posed by Caribbean- based drug traffickers are national in scope and require that the Federal Government has the necessary strategy in place to strengthen interdiction operations in the region.

That is why we introduced H.R. 920, the Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy Act, which will codify the requirement for ONDCP to include a Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy in the National Drug Control Strategy, just as it is required by law to include a Southwest Border and a Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy.

Additionally, to crack down on the financing schemes and money laundering operations that support the illicit narcotics trade, H.R. 920 will amend the definition of supply reduction in ONDCP's authorization to ensure the National Drug Control Strategy and its supplemental border strategies explicitly include activities to track and disrupt the financial networks of drug trafficking organizations.

I thank Chairman Comer and his staff for working with us to incorporate my bill within H.R. 9598, the bipartisan Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2024. I also recognize Ranking Member Raskin for his support, and I thank Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett who was my co-lead on the Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy Act, as well as Senator Rick Scott and Senator Alex Padilla who introduced the Senate companion bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 9598.