Political Quotes

“Mr. President, a number of my colleagues will be coming to the floor in just a while to talk about the crisis that is going on in the island territory of Puerto Rico. Remember, Puerto Rico is a territory. Its citizens are U.S. citizens, and we often forget that, particularly as they are now facing economic challenges that are growing worse by the day. Although we just had an opportunity in the Omnibus appropriations bill to address Puerto Rico's fiscal crisis, it appears that Congress is going to go home without having done the bare minimum for Puerto Rico. In the meantime, Puerto Rico is going to start the New Year on the verge of default as the Governor faces the troubling choice of whether to pay for essential public services or make a $1 billion debt payment to Wall Street creditors. The public services include those for health, fire, police, water, et cetera, versus paying the bonds that are coming due. Many of us have been urging our colleagues for months--Senator Durbin, Senator Cantwell, Senator Schumer, and myself--to meaningfully address this fiscal crisis by providing Puerto Rico with the same debt restructuring authority that is available to any other State under chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code. This is the authority that Puerto Rico had until it was taken away by Congress without any explanation 30 years ago.…”