[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 105 (Wednesday, June 29, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S4684]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              PUERTO RICO

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico is in 
crisis. It owes billions of dollars in debt, and without prompt 
congressional action, it could be forced to leave residents without 
essential services such as hospitals and public safety resources. If we 
don't act before the island misses a critical debt payment deadline 
this Friday, matters will only get a lot worse--for Puerto Rico and for 
taxpayers. President Obama's Treasury Secretary warns that Puerto Rico 
could be forced to ``lay off police officers, shut down public transit, 
and close medical facilities.'' This could very well result in a 
taxpayer-funded bailout.
  Today, however, we have an opportunity to help Puerto Rico in the 
face of this crisis and prevent a taxpayer bailout by passing the 
responsible bipartisan bill before us. This bill will not cost 
taxpayers a dime--not a dime. What it will do is help Puerto Rico 
restructure its financial obligations and provide much needed oversight 
to put in place needed reforms. It achieves this with an audit of the 
island's finances and the establishment of what the Washington Post has 
called ``an impartial panel of experts'' to bring desperately needed 
transparency and reform to Puerto Rico's fiscal operations.
  Puerto Rico currently spends over a third of its budget on debt 
payments alone. By restructuring Puerto Rico's financial debt and 
helping reform its operations, this bill will allow the territory to 
invest more of its resources in growing the economy and creating more 
opportunities for its residents. Obviously, the bill isn't perfect, but 
here is why we should support it: It will not cost taxpayers a dime, it 
prevents a bailout, and it offers Puerto Rico the best chance to return 
to financial stability and economic growth over the long term, so we 
can help prevent another financial crisis like this in the future. In 
short, it is ``just the first step,'' as the Governor of Puerto Rico 
said, ``in what will be . . . [a] long road to recovery'' for the 
island. But it is the most responsible, taxpayer-friendly step we can 
take right now.
  So let me remind my colleagues that Puerto Rico faces a critical 
deadline this Friday, 2 days from today. This is the best and possibly 
the only action we can take to help Puerto Rico. As Secretary Jack Lew 
put it, ``[D]oing nothing now to end the debt crisis will result in a 
chaotic, disorderly unwinding with widespread consequences.'' It is the 
surest route to both the taxpayer-funded bailout of Puerto Rico and a 
humanitarian crisis for its people. These are all things we should 
avoid.
  Doing nothing is not an option. We must act now to prevent matters 
from getting worse. The House already passed this bipartisan bill with 
the backing of nearly 300 Members. Now it is the Senate's turn to send 
this to the President's desk immediately.

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