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Washington D.C. – Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna has suggested appointing a military commander in charge of Puerto Rico’s recovery, as was done in Louisiana in 2005 during the emergency caused by Hurricane Katrina.
“We must do everything in our power to help Puerto Rico fully recover from the devastation of Hurricane Fiona,” Khanna said on Twitter regarding his suggestion to President Joe Biden.
After Hurricane María, federal legislators, including Republican Senator Marco Rubio (Florida), pushed for the idea of having a military commander oversee the entire Puerto Rico recovery process.
3. @POTUS can immediately appoint a national incident commander, like we saw in Hurricane Katrina, to mobilize resources for a better tomorrow in PR.
— Rep. Ro Khanna (@RepRoKhanna) September 26, 2022
In a confusing tweet, however, Khanna, one of the most liberal in the House of Representatives, also indicated that the Senate must approve the bill that promotes the self-determination of Puerto Rico, as if it had already been approved in the House. short.
The federal legislator has been a co-sponsor of Bill 2070 of Puerto Rican Democrats Nydia Velázquez and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, which proposes regulating a Status Convention in Puerto Rico and a referendum on non-territorial status alternatives.
Recently, Khanna called for hearings and a comprehensive amendment process around Bill 8393, which promotes a federal plebiscite between statehood, free association and independence.