Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I yield myself 5 minutes. The United States flag has flown over Puerto Rico for more than a century. Those born on the island are American citizens, and more than 200,000 have served in the United States military, including roughly 10,000 serving today. Millions more live on the U.S. mainland but consider Puerto Rico their home. Mr. Chairman, we are here today because our fellow Americans are suffering, and it is our constitutional responsibility to help them. They are suffering from the effects of a debt crisis more than a decade in the making. A devastating combination of mismanagement, unfair Federal policies, opportunistic hedge funds, and desperate budget cuts have destroyed the economy on the island. The monstrous burden of Puerto Rico's $70 billion debt is swallowing the funds needed to provide health care, education, transportation, and public safety for the Commonwealth's families. Almost 100,000 people have left the Commonwealth last year to look for better economic opportunities, which only makes the situation on the island worse. About 80 percent of children in Puerto Rico live in high- poverty areas, compared to about 11 percent of children on the mainland. The island's poverty rate is about 44 percent, and unemployment is 13 percent. If Congress fails to act, the island and its people face another decade of further economic and social collapse. Our fellow citizens of Puerto Rico should not have to endure this coming humanitarian crisis.…”