Members of the House and Senate expressed a wide range of individual reactions to the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rossello. Some, like Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), congratulated the people of Puerto Rico for deposing Rossello. Marco Rubio (R-FL) took a similar position, saying, “The resignation of Ricardo Rosselló is an opportunity for… Read more »
The government of Puerto Rico has acknowledged that the death toll for hurricanes Irma and Maria is probably as much as 20 times higher than the official count of 64. Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) responded, “It has been tragically clear for some time that the devastation from Irma and Maria was many magnitudes worse… Read more »
On the day set aside to celebrate Puerto Rico’s constitution, a group of U.S. senators introduced a bill to forgive Puerto Rico’s debt. Puerto Rico owes more than $70 billion to creditors. Then Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla declared the debt “unpayable” in 2015. The PROMESA fiscal oversight board was put in place to help, among… Read more »
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) wrote to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney, outlining the efforts required to get Puerto Rico and other areas hit by recent natural disasters up and running again. The letter lists the natural disasters which have… Read more »
On October 24, 2017, the Senate voted on national disaster relief legislation, and the following Senators gave statements regarding Puerto Rico: Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Sen. Patricia Murray (D-WA), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Chuck… Read more »
On October 19, 2017, United States Senators sent a letter to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine C. Duke expressing concern about the accuracy of the death toll in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) explained in their letter that “[a]n accurate death toll is important for… Read more »
With the election of Jenniffer Gonzalez as Puerto’s Rico’s first female Resident Commissioner, five of the six non-voting representatives in Congress will be women for the first time in history as the 115th Congress convenes in January. While each of the 50 states has voting congressional representatives, the territories and the District of Columbia have representatives… Read more »
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