[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 24, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H2893-H2894]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           EVERY 4.5 DAYS A WOMAN IS MURDERED IN PUERTO RICO

  (Mr. Hernandez of Puerto Rico was recognized to address the House for 
5 minutes.)
  Mr. HERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of women 
everywhere, but particularly women in Puerto Rico. Every 4.5 days, a 
woman is murdered in Puerto Rico. That is not a statistic. That is a 
national shame.
  It is the sound of silence after a scream, the echo of a child left 
without a mother, and the consequence of a government that has delayed 
action for too long.
  During a recent district work period, I met with Coordinadora Paz 
para las Mujeres and they shared that between 2019 and 2025, we have 
lost 435 women: mothers, daughters, sisters, and neighbors to gender-
based violence.
  Mr. Speaker, 87 percent of intimate partner femicides this year 
involved firearms. However, shelters are still underfunded, legal aid 
is limited, and survivors are turned away. The government has not taken 
decisive action.
  Coordinadora Paz para las Mujeres is a nonprofit that has tackled 
gender-based violence in Puerto Rico for over 35 years. It is now at 
risk of losing the Federal funding that sustains its work. According to 
Executive Director Vilma Gonzalez Castro, the impact would be 
devastating as 80 percent of their budget comes from Federal sources. 
For organizations like CPM, these cuts would not just reduce services, 
but could mean total elimination.
  This is not just a Puerto Rico issue. This is an American crisis. 
Today, I

[[Page H2894]]

urge my colleagues to protect and expand Federal funding for domestic 
violence shelters, emergency services, and trauma-informed care. I ask 
that we not just count the dead but honor them through policy.
  We must stop confusing austerity with justice. Cutting these services 
does not save money. Cutting these services costs lives. Let us act 
with urgency, with dignity, and with the full force of Federal 
responsibility because all of this will ultimately save lives.


                       Pell Grants in Puerto Rico

  Mr. HERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, in Puerto Rico, over 134,000 students 
rely on Pell grants to access higher education. That is $783 million in 
Federal aid. More than just a number, it is the key to success for 
students and their families to help pay for tuition, textbooks, and 
other basic expenses in order to be successful in obtaining their 
degrees.

  These grants open doors to universities, community colleges, 
technical institutes, institutions that, in turn, train the very people 
who serve our communities: our teachers, our engineers, our healthcare 
workers, our middle class, the core of our society.
  Yet, these lifelines are under threat.
  Republicans have proposed billions in cuts from Pell grants and 
changes to PLUS loans to help pay for tax breaks for billionaires at 
the expense of education opportunities. They are willing to help the 
most well-off in our society at the expense of our students.
  In Puerto Rico, such a decision will not just hurt individuals. It 
will ripple through every public hospital, every rural clinic, and 
every school. It will weaken the very infrastructure that sustains life 
on the island. Health services provided by students in higher education 
would be reduced dramatically across the whole Nation, as I learned 
from meeting with officials from the Carlos Albizu University during a 
recent district work period.
  Let's be clear: Pell grants are not charity. They are a covenant, a 
promise that talent, not income, should determine your future. To break 
that promise is not just bad policy. It is a betrayal of American 
ideals.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge this Congress to protect Pell grants. Our whole 
collective future depends on it.

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