Raúl Grijalva

It is unbelievable that after 121 years living under the flag of the United States of America and 102 years of American citizenship, Puerto Ricans living on the island cannot vote on the national general elections to elect its Commander in…

I believe we should also have a more in-depth discussion regarding the purpose and intent of the infrastructure Revitalization Coordinator.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

The misrepresentations of the Constitution that a lot of the anti-government, anti-public land activists on this issue rely on...

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

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

And, you know, I don't know how we can reconcile telling these kids and I don't know whose families are struggling they should no longer have access to food while they're trying to learn each day.

So this is why I suggest, if you are going to write up more legislation, you should probably have active participation and actually invite Tribes since you yourself do not even know how many Tribes are in Arizona.

I am proud to be a co-sponsor of the Native American Voting Rights Act, and this hearing has shown today why we need it.

And when they voice their concerns, they are dismissed as, quote, 'outside forces or, special interest groups.'

You have been a State representative and a State senator elected I think since 2010, and you are crafting legislation that affects Native Americans, but you don't know how many federally recognized Tribes are in Arizona.

The administration, this administration tried, on the same issue of voting and integrity had, I think, Chris Kobach or somebody run a committee for a while that went nowhere, and then quietly, and thank God, it disappeared into the night.

I think it is unfortunate and sad that our Tribal leadership was not reached out to before this bill was passed in our State legislature.

It is important that all communities in this very important discussion about voting access, franchise, and participation be included.

Their efforts seem to be particularly targeted toward me.

In regards to oversight, it is not only Congress' right, but our responsibility to hold the executive branch accountable for its actions and decisions.

As we go through the current drama and trauma about the equal status of Congress to the executive branch, I think we are to the point now that, moving forward, we--as Mr. Lowenthal said--would like weekly updates on the production and the…

Interior has resisted oversight by both the Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office.