Generally speaking, the federal emergency response is an adjunct to the state emergency response and is supposed to help fill gaps, so we can blame both for their parts. The extenuating circumstance of the debt crisis of Puerto Rico means there is a lot of federal oversight of the budget of Puerto Rico for decades, the subsidies we might see prop up states in a similar circumstance have been drying up for Puerto Rico over the same time period, but that blame can be extended over many sessions of Congress and administrations prior to Trump.
A very recent podcast by historians entitled 'After Hurricane Maria' will help those unfamiliar with Puerto Rico's history to understand what happened. It's "a look at the historical relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States."
PR is not a state, and it has no Senators or Congresscritters to represent it. It is what in other countries is called a 'dependency'. And deliberately kept that way for over a century.
It has one seat in the House, carrying the title of Resident Commissioner (as opposed to Delegate, which is how most other territorial members are titled).
As I understand it (very limited), the position's voting rights/opportunities are severely constrained and, in most or all significant matters, non-existent.
[Addendum: Depending upon committee memberships, arguably, being able to vote in/on committee matters -- particularly, to move legislation out of committee -- may be a significant power in particular circumstances. As well perhaps, again in particular circumstances, the ability to introduce legislation. Occasionally, the latter exerts significant political influence regardless of the success or failure to pass of said legislation.]
are representatives of their territory in the House of Representatives, but who do not have a right to vote on proposed legislation in the full House but are nevertheless able to participate in certain other House functions. Non-voting members may vote in a House committee of which they are a member and introduce legislation.
Similar to delegates are resident commissioners, who represented the large areas acquired during the Spanish–American War, and for much of the 20th century were considered colonies, not territories and unlike the previously acquired areas which would become the contiguous U.S. or Alaska and Hawaii, did not have residents with the rights of, or to U.S. citizenship.[13] Unlike incorporated territories, they have the right to secede from the Union, and in the case of the Philippines, they have.
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[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 24.8 ms ] threadhttp://uk.businessinsider.com/puerto-rico-water-bottle-fema-...
It's obvious that it's a failure of logistics, but missing 17 semi truck loads doesn't seem insane to me.
A transcript is also available.
https://www.backstoryradio.org/shows/after-hurricane-maria/
PR is not a state, and it has no Senators or Congresscritters to represent it. It is what in other countries is called a 'dependency'. And deliberately kept that way for over a century.
As I understand it (very limited), the position's voting rights/opportunities are severely constrained and, in most or all significant matters, non-existent.
[Addendum: Depending upon committee memberships, arguably, being able to vote in/on committee matters -- particularly, to move legislation out of committee -- may be a significant power in particular circumstances. As well perhaps, again in particular circumstances, the ability to introduce legislation. Occasionally, the latter exerts significant political influence regardless of the success or failure to pass of said legislation.]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_members_of_the_United_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenniffer_Gonz%C3%A1lez
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delegate_(United_States_Congre...
are representatives of their territory in the House of Representatives, but who do not have a right to vote on proposed legislation in the full House but are nevertheless able to participate in certain other House functions. Non-voting members may vote in a House committee of which they are a member and introduce legislation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delegate_(United_States_Congre...
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Separately, note also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delegate_(United_States_Congre...
Similar to delegates are resident commissioners, who represented the large areas acquired during the Spanish–American War, and for much of the 20th century were considered colonies, not territories and unlike the previously acquired areas which would become the contiguous U.S. or Alaska and Hawaii, did not have residents with the rights of, or to U.S. citizenship.[13] Unlike incorporated territories, they have the right to secede from the Union, and in the case of the Philippines, they have.