Only through statehood will we be able to acquire the necessary tools to grow our economy and ensure our island's 3.2 million Americans are being treated equally.

PROMESA has failed on its purpose and threatened the economic stability of everyone on the island.

Many of you have heard me say that when Congress drafted and passed PROMESA, Democrats would have written a different law if we were in the Majority.

It is in this regard, that I wrote the amendments to PROMESA that are contained in the 'Draft' we will be discussing today.

I believed then and still do today, that PROMESA relies too heavily on austerity measures, falling on the backs of ordinary Puerto Ricans, to achieve its goals of debt reduction and balanced budgets.

We are already seeing delays in disaster relief funding and have reason to question the duration of the `boost' these funds are bringing to the economy.

I plan on doing all that I can to prevent the Oversight Board from using the existing provisions of PROMESA as an excuse to cause further suffering to the residents of Puerto Rico.

This amendment will also protect Puerto Rico's public education and allow economic growth and social development.

I appreciate that, and I appreciate the Chair holding this hearing, because it is about the health and safety of the agency employees.

I don't see how any of this, that line of thinking, justifies extremist attacks on Federal employees.

My question is if the administration believes that the national school lunch program is so successful, why are you proposing a rule that would remove nearly a million children from that program?