Congressman Urges Trump Administration to Deploy Navy Hospital Ship to Earthquake-Ravaged Venezuela

A U.S. congressman is urging the Trump administration to deploy Navy hospital ships USNS Comfort or USNS Mercy to Venezuela following devastating earthquakes that killed over 1,400 people. Both vessels are currently undergoing maintenance — USNS Mercy at Vigor Shipyard in Portland, Oregon, and USNS Comfort at Alabama Shipyard — raising uncertainty about their readiness for rapid humanitarian deployment.