Washington D. C. - President Joe Biden reaffirmed Thursday night that his administration is committed to Puerto Rico´s recovery, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the catastrophe caused by Hurricane María.

Biden referred briefly to the island during his address at the 45th Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Gala to Kick Off Hispanic Heritage Month.

“We made Puerto Rico’s economic recovery and development a top priority,” he said.

President Biden recalled that he asked U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves - who previously helped him with Detroit’s post-bankruptcy recovery - to oversee his administration’s economic initiatives for the island.

Graves had announced an economic conference about Puerto Rico to be held this month in Washington D.C. But, according to sources, that conference has been postponed.

Last Thursday, during a public hearing on the status of recovery in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands -held by a U.S. House subcommittee- the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) indicated that the island’s recovery is not advancing at the pace it should advance.