Dick Durbin: “If I don't use my entire time, I will yield the remainder to the Senator from New Jersey for those with opposing…”

“If I don't use my entire time, I will yield the remainder to the Senator from New Jersey for those with opposing positions. Mr. President, many times on the floor of the Senate we are faced with difficult, sometimes impossible choices. At the end of the day, you wish you could sit down and write a solution that you believe would achieve its purpose and do it in the most responsible manner. Many times we don't get that luxury, and this is an example. Puerto Rico is in a unique relationship with the United States. Some have said this agreement is in the nature of a colonial imposition on the island of Puerto Rico. As the laws currently stand, Puerto Rico cannot save itself. It is $70 billion in debt, and those who hold the debt--the bond holders--are demanding payment. The Puerto Rican economy is struggling to survive and struggling to make a $2 billion payment on that debt by July 1. Under these emergency circumstances, there is only one place to turn. It is not an imposing colonial power; it is the United States of America that has been in partnership with Puerto Rico in the past and should be for its future. We are trying to find a reasonable way through this that will appeal to both political parties. Of course, the political parties see this differently. A Democratic solution to this looks a lot different than a Republican solution. What we have before us is a compromise.…”