The House Natural Resources Committee heard testimony on Puerto Rico’s restoration following natural disasters in recent years. Governor Pedro Pierluisi spoke on the progress being made.
His written testimony began with good news: “Successfully restructuring our public debt to sustainable levels is helping us rise from bankruptcy with renewed momentum. This new era of economic stability and progress-oriented policies is already working to restore investor confidence on the Island, which is evidenced by the economic upswing being felt across Puerto Rico,” he said, “We also strategically allocated federal funds related to the pandemic to mitigate the effect on our public health and our economy. This has helped provide a sustained rise in economic activity indexes for the past twenty months. In fact, even accounting for inflation and historic high fuel prices, our economy is growing, businesses are expanding, and tax collections are rising consistently.”
He continued, “Moreover, we have been able to create over 105,000 jobs in less than twenty months since I took office, and Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate is at 5.8%, its lowest point in our history. Also, more people have joined the workforce, reaching levels we have not seen in almost 15 years, and last month 44 percent of businesses on the Island reported plans to increase their workforce.”
Status
The governor also wrote about Puerto Rico’s political status. “125 years of unequal treatment towards the American citizens living in Puerto Rico have taken a toll on our society. Even after the successful restructuring of our public debt and the rebuilding of our infrastructure, Puerto Rico will remain hindered until our century-long status question is resolved,” he reminded his listeners. “The people of Puerto Rico voted and chose permanent union with the United States through statehood as their path forward. So many Puerto Ricans have defended American democratic values at home and abroad that their lack of voting representation in Congress and voting rights is clearly unacceptable.”
“Congress should call for a vote on the political future of Puerto Rico and commit to implementing the will of the majority,” the governor concluded. “After all, that is what democracy is all about. I thank you for favorably reporting HR 8393 out of this Committee and urge Congress to approve it.”
In his speech, he also said, “We have shown that when we are treated with equality, as happened with the COVID pandemic, we respond the same or better than any state. I am not here asking for more, I am asking that they treat us as what [who] we are: American citizens who deserve equality and democracy.”
Rep. Hice
Rep. Jody Hice responded to the governor’s reasonable and respectful words with a direct insult. “It is coming here with hands out asking for more money and/or asking for statehood,” he said. “That’s what we deal with here.”
It is certainly true that Congress deals with requests for funding. That is the job of Congress. Being scornful of requests for funding is wildly inappropriate for a member of Congress. It is, quite simply, the job of Congress to distribute taxpayer funds. Behaving as though the Governor of Puerto Rico were a panhandler accosting him on a street corner is insulting and irrational.
Congress is also the only body in the federal government which can admit states. There is no other organization apart from Congress who can be asked for statehood. Territories have a right to ask for — indeed, to demand — admission as a state. After more than a century as a territory of the United States, Puerto Rico is entirely right to ask Congress for statehood.
Once again, suggesting that there is something inappropriate or undignified about asking Congress for statehood is irrational and insulting.
Hice stated that he does not favor statehood for Puerto Rico. We believe that Rep. Hice does not support equal rights for Puerto Rico. His insulting and disrespectful comments make it clear that he does not support equality for the territory.
Rep. Hice owes Puerto Rico, and the duly elected Governor of Puerto Rico, an apology.
One response
Rep. J. Hice calls himself a “constitutional conservative.” He has every right to express his opinions. However, he fails to offer solutions that are “constitutionally viable” to help solve Puerto Rico’s problems.
Rep. J. Hice stated, “It is coming here with its hands out, asking for more money and/or statehood.””That’s what we deal with here.”
Yes, that is the format allowed for PR under the Natural Resources Committee.
Rep. Hice also expressed his concerns for the failures of the Promesa Board six years later. Many of us share the same concern. But why has Rep. Hice not taken a leadership role and requested a full congressional examination of the Promesa Board’s operational status, misses, mishaps, expenses, and plans?
If Rep. Hice is interested in truly answering his own rhetoric, why did he leave the committee meeting before listening to the response to his comments? Basic problem solving starts with open communication, even if we do not like what is being discussed.
I do not share the views the governor of PR expressed. All is far from peachy in P.R.
We are all aware that daily life in Puerto Rico is abysmal, and that corruption persists. Sadly, there are now multiple PR private sectors advocating in Washington because they can no longer control the federal funding narrative in PR under the Promesa Board and the completely dysfunctional local government. The same private sector that remained quiet while PR debacles occurred under their eyes.
Rep. Hice struck a chord with his comments. They were not necessarily insulting, but a very poor choice of words reflected a lack of knowledge of P.R. issues.
It’s never too late to get involved if he truly believes P.R. is abusing the system and wasting federal money.
The ultimate painful reality is that the U.S. Congress is mainly responsible for enabling Puerto Rico’s debacle for decades by looking the other way, and continuing to send federal funds without requesting accountability for every dollar sent.
What no one wants to answer is: “How much money has P.R. received in federal funds since the 1900s?” Where has the money gone?