[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 20152]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              OPPOSING THE GOP TAX SCAM CONFERENCE REPORT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
New York (Ms. Velazquez) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this tax scam 
bill. Not only will it harm working families across the Nation, but it 
will visit another hurricane on Puerto Rico: an economic hurricane.
  Today, Puerto Rico is in the grip of a humanitarian crisis. More than 
235,000 of its people have already fled the island for the mainland.
  After Maria, many of my colleagues--from Speaker Ryan to Leader 
McCarthy--went to Puerto Rico and promised they would assist the island 
and help them recover. Instead, what they are doing is finding a way to 
further drive Puerto Rico's economy into the ground.
  Even though it is part of the United States--remember, since 1898, 
when military forces invaded Puerto Rico--this bill treats Puerto Rico 
as a foreign jurisdiction, levying new taxes on corporations operating 
there, creating incentives for them to leave the island and take jobs 
with them.
  Let's be clear. Puerto Ricans are American citizens. They fight in 
our wars, many of them laying down their lives for our freedoms, yet 
this bill continues treating Puerto Rico differently than the rest of 
the United States.
  For decades, decisions made right here in this body hollowed out, 
weakened, and undermined Puerto Rico's economy. This tax bill continues 
that awful tradition, undercutting Puerto Rico's economy once more.
  All told, these tax provisions will cost Puerto Rico more than 
200,000 jobs, at exactly the time when the island needs all the help it 
can get.
  While this tax scam would hurt Puerto Rico, it also does nothing to 
help. While they had talked of it, there is nothing to expand the child 
tax credit for Puerto Rico. They eliminated the meager extensions of 
section 199 and rum cover-over provisions contained in the House 
version.
  The Speaker of the House and the Republican leader went to Puerto 
Rico. They looked the people of Puerto Rico in the eye and made 
promises to help them.
  That is how you help Puerto Rico?
  What we are seeing is that their tax bill would serve simply to crush 
Puerto Rico's economy.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill is morally bankrupt. It harms American 
citizens everywhere. It kicks Puerto Rico when it is down. It must be 
rejected. Vote ``no.''

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