Washington,
June 10, 2016
|
Mary Carpenter
(202-834-0386)
Congressman Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (Ga-01) voted today to prevent a bailout in Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States.
"Due to years of mismanagement and financial abuse, Puerto Rico is in crisis and time is running out," Carter said. "Billions of dollars in debt, the government could soon fail to provide even basic humanitarian services to its citizens like keeping schools and public hospitals open. At no fault of their own, Americans on the island are suffering and hardworking citizens here at home will soon be left to pick up the tab. I say enough is enough. We must act now to turn the tide because it is unacceptable to use even one cent of taxpayer dollars to bailout decades of an inefficient state-run economy. I refuse to sit idly when taxpayer dollars and the wellbeing of Americans are on the line."
The House passed H.R. 5278, the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act, with Carter's support. The legislation uses no taxpayer funds and will prevent a bailout by:
creating an Oversight Board to bring solvency to Puerto Rico;
establishing a restructuring process that ensures creditors priorities are respected throughout the process; and,
implementing pro-growth reforms to expand opportunity and streamline energy and infrastructure development.
In the fight to protect taxpayer dollars and ensure there is no bailout at any time, Carter is a cosponsor of H.R. 5276, the No Bailouts for State, Territory, and Local Governments Act. H.R. 5276 prohibits the use of federal funds to bail out any state, territory, or municipal government that is bankrupt or at risk of default.
