Rubio: ‘We have to do more’ to help Puerto Rico

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) says lawmakers need to do more to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria, with nearly a third of the island’s people still lacking power and other resources.

“We need to pass a disaster relief package,” Rubio told “CBS This Morning” co-host John Dickerson on Wednesday. “What the House passed was not enough. We have to do more; we’re working on doing more.” 

Rubio’s comments came the morning after President Trump’s first State of the Union address where he mentioned Americans still recovering from a devastating series of hurricanes last year.

Rubio said he is working with fellow Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D) on new legislation to bring more aid to Puerto Rico.

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“My biggest concern is that we didn’t do enough early in the process at the federal level, because we tried to treat it like a conventional storm and it was not,” he added. 

Rubio said he also disagreed with the decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to end its free supplies of food and water for Puerto Rico this week.

The Trump administration drew criticism for its response to the massive hurricane last fall. Some said the administration was too slow to provide federal assistance.

The president also publicly feuded with the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, when she criticized his response.

The House passed $15.3 billion in short-term relief in September, followed by a $36.5 billion aid package for both hurricane and wildfire relief in October.