[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 13012-13013]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           PUERTO RICO'S DEBT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I want to make an introduction. This is 
the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. We own it. It is ours. We are 
responsible for it.
  The Congress of the United States governs this island. It is our 
colony, and we rule over it. It is $73 billion in debt.
  The Supreme Court said: Puerto Rico is a territory . . . belonging to 
the United States, but not a part of the United States.
  And, apparently, the responsibility to govern Puerto Rico falls to 
the Congress and not to the executive branch, because, for the last 6 
months or more, I have talked with Obama administration officials at 
every level about Puerto Rico, and their response has been that they 
cannot or will not do anything. The message I received loud and clear 
was anything to help Puerto Rico had better happen in Congress.
  But there is no sense of urgency in Congress or anywhere else in 
Washington for real solutions. Puerto Rico's problems are complicated.
  I am here to say that the Puerto Rican people must begin putting 
direct pressure on this Congress for action because Puerto Rico's 
problems are mostly the creation of--you guessed it--Congress.
  The Jones Act of 1917 made all Puerto Ricans citizens of the United 
States, just in time for World War I, when 18,000 new draftees were 
needed.
  The Jones Act also says that Puerto Rico, unlike any State, can issue 
triple-exempt bonds, bonds that are free of Federal, State, and local 
taxes. Illinois can't do that. Neither can your State.

                              {time}  1015

  But Puerto Rico was specifically written out of U.S. bankruptcy laws 
by Congress. They cannot declare Chapter 9 or anything else because a 
special exemption was made. So Congress creates a tax-free bond haven 
and Wall Street jumps in to buy Puerto Rican debt decade after decade.
  Puerto Rico has more than 15 times the median bond debt of all 50 
States, and bankruptcy is not an option without an act of Congress. And 
get this: the Puerto Rican Constitution says bondholders must be paid 
before anything else.
  Right now, Wall Street is circling the wounded animal like vultures 
waiting to get their piece; and they are fighting against a bill that 
would allow Puerto Rico, like any other jurisdiction, to declare 
bankruptcy because that could move decisions about who gets paid and in 
what order they get paid into a U.S. Federal court of law.
  You see, the current situation favors the billionaires and hedge 
funds because they will get paid before the cops on the beat, the 
doctors in the hospitals, and the teachers in the schools. Oh, we can't 
investigate that crime or take down that drug dealer because we

[[Page 13013]]

have to pay the bondholders on Wall Street first.
  Now, the same people who cash in on debt in places like Greece and 
Argentina are lining up to cash in in the Caribbean by stepping up 
their demands for austerity measures, privatization of utilities, and 
restructuring on their terms that will make them very, very rich at the 
expense of the Puerto Rican people.
  Tomorrow, I will discuss how the Puerto Rican people are being 
distracted by the promises of statehood by every politician who travels 
to San Juan or needs the votes of Puerto Ricans in Orlando, Florida.
  But today, I want to make clear that the sooner the people here 
realize that the people in this Chamber are the ones who need to take 
action, the sooner we can make real progress and not get distracted by 
politics and the pipe dreams of statehood.
  So for my remaining minute, I want to address the people of Puerto 
Rico directly in the language they speak at home around the dinner 
table.
  (English translation of the statement made in Spanish is as follows:)
  It is time for everyone to put political divisions aside.
  I have talked to the Obama Administration and they will do nothing to 
help Puerto Rico.
  The bond-holders are lining up to get paid even if the rest of Puerto 
Rico collapses.
  Wall Street is buying up Puerto Rican debt so that they can demand 
austerity measures, tax-breaks, and privatization of industries that 
will fill their pockets with even more money.
  Whatever plan is invented in Washington or on Wall Street will not 
put the needs of the Puerto Rican people first--we all know that.
  So what is a unified Puerto Rico's plan to move forward?
  Boricuas must step up right now so that Puerto Rico has a plan for 
the economy that will create jobs and not just drive young people off 
of the island to the U.S. on Jet Blue.
  The only place we can seek help is right here in Congress; we need to 
make this Congress act.
  I will talk more about this and the Island's the distraction of the 
status question tomorrow.
  But right now I want Puerto Ricans to put their ideas together.
  Go to my Facebook page--``Rep. Gutierrez on Facebook''--and let's 
begin working on a plan to get Congress to act.
  Ya es hora de que todos pongan a un lado divisiones politicas.
  He hablado con la Administracion de Obama y ellos no van a ayudar a 
Puerto Rico.
  Los duenos de bonos estan haciendo fila para recibir sus pagos aun 
cuando el resto de Puerto Rico se derrumba.
  Wall Street esta comprando la deuda de Puerto Rico para poder exigir 
medidas de austeridad, rebajes de impuestos, y la privatizacion de las 
industrias que llenaran sus bolsillos con mas dinero.
  Cualquiera que sea el plan de Washington o de Wall Street no pondra 
las necesidades de la gente de Puerto Rico primero--todos sabemos eso.
  Entonces, Cual es el plan de Puerto Rico unido para 
seguir adelante?
  Los Boricuas deben involucrarse en este momento para que Puerto Rico 
tenga un plan de economia que pueda crear empleos y no seguir empujando 
a los jovenes fuera de la isla para los Estados Unidos en Jet Blue.
  El unico lugar donde podemos buscar ayuda es aqui en el Congreso, 
tenemos que hacer que este Congreso cumpla.
  Voy a hablar mas sobre esto y de la distraccion de la cuestion del 
estatus de la Isla manana.
  Pero por ahora quiero que los puertorriquenos pongan sus ideas en 
conjunto.
  Vayan a mi pagina de Facebook--``Rep. Gutierrez en Facebook''--y 
empecemos a organizar un plan para hacer que este Congreso cumpla.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Illinois will provide a 
translation for the Record.

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