Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I want to share my concerns about the Puerto Rico legislation we're considering. I've been involved with this issue for quite a while now. This past December I chaired a hearing in the Judiciary Committee to examine the root cause of Puerto Rico's fiscal problems. At the hearing we learned that even when Puerto Rico's economy took a downturn, government spending did not. Instead of making difficult decisions to cut spending and balance its budget, the government kept borrowing to finance its operations, using tax-exempt bonds to roll over debt. As a result, Puerto Rico now has one of the largest government deficits in the United States, and debt we're told isn't payable and must be restructured. As many of you know, a wide array of investors own Puerto Rican bonds, which are issued by roughly 17 different entities. According to Bloomberg, Puerto Ricans themselves hold $20 billion of the debt. Nearly 60 percent of Puerto Rico's debt is held largely in the individual retirement accounts and 401(k)'s of regular folks throughout the U.S. In fact, over 17,000 Iowans are invested in mutual funds containing at least one type of Puerto Rican bonds. These folks aren't vultures. They are middle-class taxpayers who invested their hard-earned money into one of the many tax-exempt municipal bond funds containing Puerto Rico's bonds. Why should they be forced by Congress to bailout Puerto Rico's government and pension obligations?…”