Providing for Consideration of H.R. Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from Alabama for yielding.

It is a fascinating debate, where two sides of the political aisle have come together, at the start, from very different vantage points on how to help Puerto Rico but have consistently worked together to find a compromise that all of us think is going to leave Puerto Rico better off than it is today.

I heard the gentleman from Illinois, in his fiery remarks, talking about dignity and respect for the people of Puerto Rico. He was saying that people in Puerto Rico are being treated like trash.

The economic stats are staggering of what is happening in Puerto Rico: the unemployment rate, it is double that of the mainland; the labor participation rate is 20 points lower than the national average; and thousands of people every month are leaving the island because there is not enough economic opportunity.

If you want to talk about dignity and respect, look at the poverty on the island. Look at the despair on the island. I mean, you have families that are being separated because they have no jobs. They can't live in their neighborhoods, in their communities with their families because they can't find an opportunity, so they have to go somewhere else. That is not dignity. That is not respect.

So this Congress has come together with a unified voice to come up with a package that can actually get Puerto Rico on an economic path to prosperity.

Listen, I would love if we can say to the Puerto Rican Government: You guys have to do a better job of managing your debt.

Guess what. It has been a failure, with $73 billion in debt. They can't get their hands around it. The people have lost trust in the government, and so they are saying: If you look at the polls, we want Congress to act. We want Congress to do something. We can't get saved at home. Would the U.S. Congress please step in? Would you please help us out?

They aren't opposed to an oversight board to help manage the finances of the island. They are not opposed to a system to restructure Puerto Rican debt, a system that, by the way, makes sure that the bondholders of Puerto Rican debt will bear the loss, not the American taxpayer, because I think this institution believes that we should have the bondholders bear that loss instead of the American taxpayer.

We don't believe in capitalism on the way up, where you get all the rewards of your investment and bonds, but socialism on the way down, so, if you lose in an investment, the taxpayer will bail you out. That is not what we believe in.

So I guess when I hear opponents who talk about their fathers being born in Puerto Rico and them wanting to die in Puerto Rico, I love the passion, I love the fire, but you have to have a heart and look at what is happening on the island and look at a commonsense, bipartisan solution where you have the President of the United States, the Treasury, the gentleman from Puerto Rico (Mr. Pierluisi), who has been masterful in helping make sure that we stay on target, we understand what is going on on the island, that we understand what will work and what won't work, that we have come together, two different parties, actually, the Speaker of the Puerto Rican House engaging with us on how we are going to fix the island.

One quick last point. This is about debt restructuring. This is about getting the finances in order. But this also has to be about economic growth. You won't have a recovery until you have economic growth. We incent investment on the island.

Though we haven't done enough--there is still more to do--both sides have committed to making sure we come up with a strategy and a plan to make sure we have investment in Puerto Rico, so there is more opportunity, more jobs, more tax revenue, and more prosperity for the Puerto Rican people.

I am proud of the work that this House has done on this bill, the different sides, different views, different opinions that have come together to make this bill happen. I would encourage everyone to support the rule and, later today, support this bill.

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