Political Quotes

“I rise to speak about the ongoing crisis affecting the 3.5 million citizens who call Puerto Rico their home and to comment on the legislation that is pending in the House of Representatives. We are facing a critical moment in the history of Puerto Rico. The island is sinking under a mountain of debt. I said it before, but it bears repeating. Just servicing the government's $72 billion debt swallows 36 percent of all of the island's revenue. That means that for every dollar Puerto Rico takes in, they immediately send over one-third to bondholders. This is not sustainable for any government, especially one that has been mired in a decade-long recession. Congress is faced with an immediate and serious choice. Indeed, the decisions we make in the next month will have profound consequences on the people of Puerto Rico for over a generation, and the stakes are high. We simply have to get it right. I said from the beginning that any fix needs to provide a clear path to restructuring with an oversight board that represents the people of Puerto Rico and their democratic rights. If we truly want to help the economic situation on the island, we also need to provide parity for health care funds and worker tax credits that all 3.5 million American citizens living in Puerto Rico have access to once they move to the American mainland.…”