Plaskett Pushes For Meeting With Biden About Territorial Rights

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS — Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett announced that she had joined representatives from Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands in a bid to meet with President Biden.

Plaskett released the following statement, "Recently, I along with the other Members of Congress representing the U.S. territories sent a letter to President Biden to request a meeting to discuss issues facing the U.S. territories. Those issues include lack of equal access to federal safety net programs such as SSI and Medicaid, and climate change."

The representatives meet monthly to discuss issues that directly and sometimes uniquely affect the territories. Access to federal aid programs, or in this case the lack of access, has long been a hot issue. Plaskett emphasized that it would be a priority if they were to meet with the President, saying "We continue to exclude Americans living in U.S. Territories from legal protections equal to their fellow Americans living in the several States and the District of Columbia."

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