Orrin Hatch: “I rise to speak on Puerto Rico's financial and economic challenges. The Government of Puerto Rico tells us the territory…”

“I rise to speak on Puerto Rico's financial and economic challenges. The Government of Puerto Rico tells us the territory has more than $73 billion in debt that is, to use their words, ``not payable.'' On top of that, Puerto Rico has tens of billions of dollars in unfunded pension liabilities and very few assets to back up its pension promises. The economy in Puerto Rico has persistently registered double-digit unemployment rates, staggeringly low labor force participation rates and a bloated public sector and there are growing strains on Puerto Rico's health care system, some of which reflected the way the so-called Affordable Care Act was written to treat Puerto Rico and other territories, some of which reflects differing treatment between Puerto Rico, where residents do not pay Federal personal income taxes, and States where residents are included in the Federal personal income tax system. In short, there is very little good economic news coming from Puerto Rico these days. As a result, we are seeing an ongoing debate about what the Federal Government can or should do in order to help the American citizens residing in Puerto Rico. To me, this debate boils down to four relatively simple questions: Question No. 1, should the Federal Government allow Puerto Rico access to chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code or to even broader debt resolution tools; question No.…”