Washington D.C. – The following statement was issued by Addie Haughey (@addietime), associate director of Government Relations at Ocean Conservancy, in response to the hurricane supplemental funding request released by the Trump administration today:

“As thousands of American families in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands continue to wait in desperation for electricity and clean drinking water, the Trump administration has undercut the hurricane recovery effort with their request today.  The request for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) does not provide the resources needed to put the coastal communities devastated by recent hurricanes on the road to recovery. Moreover, it does not provide adequate funding for communities that are depending on NOAA to help rebuild the fisheries, coral reefs and coastal infrastructure that are integral to their identity and economies.

“Congress must now provide robust support for rebuilding stronger, safer communities that can better face the next storm. We need a disaster relief bill that supports repairs to heavily damaged NOAA equipment and programs that provided the first line of defense against Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. Our coastal communities also need urgent assistance in cleaning up marine debris. But our communities need more than just the minimal immediate relief included in this request. Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico cannot recover without NOAA. This package would leave our nation’s premier ocean agency on the sidelines.

Ocean Conservancy calls on Congress to act quickly and fairly. Any delay in funding to restore critical NOAA resources will leave Americans less safe during the next storm and less able to rebuild our economies and communities.”

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Addie Haughey is available for interviews upon request.

Ocean Conservancy is working to protect the ocean from today’s greatest global challenges. Together with our partners, we create science-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it. For more information, visit oceanconservancy.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.