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Pelosi Statement on Introduction of Bipartisan Puerto Rico Legislation

May 19, 2016

Contact: Drew Hammill/Evangeline George, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on the introduction of bipartisan legislation to address Puerto Rico’s fiscal crisis and unsustainable debt burden:

“Today, three million of our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico are facing a desperate fiscal and public debt emergency that threatens their economy, their communities and their families. Only Congress can provide Puerto Rico with the tools it needs to emerge from this crisis.

“After long bipartisan negotiations, we believe we have achieved a restructuring process that can work. We will do our part to act expeditiously in providing President Obama with a list of qualified candidates for appointment to the oversight board. Democrats are also pleased that Republicans removed the Vieques land transfer from the legislation. While we would have preferred for the bill not to include extraneous minimum wage and overtime rule provisions that harm working families, these provisions are less harmful than originally proposed.

“We cannot shirk our responsibility to our fellow citizens in their hour of need. We hope that we can move swiftly through the committee markup, and pass the bipartisan legislation Puerto Rico so urgently needs.”

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