Bob Menendez: “Thank you, Mr. President. If there were a procedural way, I would be happy to accommodate my colleague, but since there…”

“Thank you, Mr. President. If there were a procedural way, I would be happy to accommodate my colleague, but since there is not and since there are no amendments being permitted on this legislation, I have no other choice but to speak up for the 3.5 million U.S. citizens who call Puerto Rico home because they will not get an opportunity for amendments to be debated or passed. So at a time where the labor force participation rate, which measures the share of adults who are working or seeking work, is 40 percent in Puerto Rico, it is far below the 62 percent throughout the country. So the earned-income tax credit would be a tremendous opportunity. This legislation does nothing as it relates to that, even in the face of Puerto Rico's unemployment rate at 11.7 percent compared with 4.7 percent for the United States as a whole. At the height of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, unemployment peaked at 10 percent in October of 2009--10 percent at the height of the financial crisis--yet far below Puerto Rico's current 11.7-percent unemployment rate. It is fair to say we would be having a much different debate today if we were talking about a State that had an unemployment rate of 11.7 percent.…”