Political Quotes

“I have read what the distinguished Senator from Washington has raised here. There was the direct quote from the Miami Herald--and there are others as well--that bottom feeders bought Puerto Rican debt at cheap prices and don't want a restructuring that might allow repayment at less than the full face value of the bonds, making a huge killing. This is why I am so concerned and why I have focused on it in the course of my discussion about the oversight board--that at the end of the day, it is the final arbitrator of whether or not Puerto Rico has actually negotiated in good faith with the creditors. The Governor of Puerto Rico and the government of Puerto Rico can try to make all the good-faith negotiations they want. But if at the end of the day they are being squeezed by, among others, the bottom feeders that you talk about here who bought Puerto Rico's debt cheaply and wanted, ultimately, the highest price in return to make a killing, they may say: Oh, no, we are going to say to the oversight board: They haven't worked with us in a reasonable manner to try to come to an accommodation. It is in the oversight board's sole determination whether or not these entities, these creditors like the ones that you have described, ultimately are going to be told: No, Puerto Rico has done enough to try to accommodate you, and, therefore, we are going to try to let them go restructure. That, by the way, needs a super majority of vote.…”