[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16019-16020]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   MY TENURE AS RESIDENT COMMISSIONER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Puerto Rico (Mr. Pierluisi) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PIERLUISI. Mr. Speaker, after 8 years, this will be my last floor 
speech as the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in Congress. I want 
to thank

[[Page 16020]]

my constituents for giving me the opportunity to serve as their voice 
in Washington. They are enduring difficult times, but they never lose 
their hope, dignity, or appreciation for life's blessings.
  I also want to thank my colleagues in the House and the Senate. I 
respect your dedication to public service, energy, and commitment to 
the causes you champion. In addition, I want to thank my staff, which 
has served me and the people of Puerto Rico with skill, passion, and 
loyalty.
  Most importantly, I want to thank my wife, Maria-Elena; my four 
children; and the rest of my family. They have walked alongside me on 
this journey through the peaks and valleys, and my love for them cannot 
be captured with words.
  It is impossible to condense 8 action-packed years into 5 minutes. 
However, if there is a central theme to my tenure as Resident 
Commissioner, it has been ``fighting the good fight'' on behalf of the 
3.4 million American citizens in Puerto Rico, who have been treated 
unfairly for too long.
  In an example of baptism by fire, the battle began almost as soon as 
I assumed office in 2009, when Congress was debating the stimulus bill 
known as ARRA. Even as I was still learning to navigate my way through 
the Capitol, we managed to secure virtually State-like treatment for 
Puerto Rico, injecting almost $7 billion into the island's economy when 
we needed it most.
  The fight continued the following year with the Affordable Care Act, 
which resulted in the largest funding increase in history for Puerto 
Rico's Medicaid program. Separately, we secured legislative and 
administrative action that eliminated many of the disparities that 
Puerto Rico faced under the Medicare program.
  I am also proud of our work to combat drug-related violence in Puerto 
Rico, requiring the Federal Government to prepare the Caribbean Border 
Counternarcotics Strategy and persuading Federal lawsuit agencies to 
increase their resources in Puerto Rico. The number of homicides on the 
island was cut in half between 2011 and 2015. But this is not about 
statistics. It is about preserving human life.
  Moreover, I have tried my best to serve those who have served us. 
Residents of Puerto Rico have a rich military tradition, and no unit 
exemplifies their courage and character better than the 65th Infantry 
Regiment, which fought the enemy on the battlefield and discrimination 
in the barracks. After we enacted legislation to award them the 
Congressional Gold Medal, these warriors--now in the twilight of their 
lives--stood beside President Obama as he signed the bill into law and 
were honored at a ceremony in the Capitol, one that I will never 
forget.
  The toughest fight of my tenure came earlier this year when Congress 
and the White House worked together to enact legislation, called 
PROMESA, to prevent the Government of Puerto Rico from collapsing. 
Nobody was pleased that such legislation was necessary, and nobody 
liked every provision in the bill, but I firmly believe that PROMESA, 
if properly implemented, provides a path to a better future for Puerto 
Rico.
  I close with this thought: Puerto Rico's current territory status, 
which gives Congress license to treat my constituents like second class 
citizens, is undignified and unsustainable.
  Following a 2012 local referendum in which island residents expressed 
their opposition to the current status and their support for statehood, 
Congress enacted legislation that provided funding for the first 
federally sponsored referendum in Puerto Rico's history. The 
significance of this achievement has yet to be sufficiently 
appreciated. Puerto Rico should use this authority to conduct a vote on 
whether the territories should become a State. If the people of Puerto 
Rico ratify their support for statehood, as I expect they will, it will 
be incumbent upon Congress to implement that result. This country, 
which was founded on the principles of equality and justice, must live 
up to its creed.
  May God bless Puerto Rico and the United States of America.

                          ____________________