Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
To continue reading up to 10 premium articles, you must register , or sign up and take advantage of this exclusive offer: WASHINGTON - A rescue package for debt-stricken Puerto Rico has cleared a major hurdle in the House and now heads to the Senate just three weeks before the island owes a $2 billion debt payment to creditors. The House on Thursday passed legislation to create a financial control board and allow restructuring of some of Puerto Rico's $70 billion debt.
A rescue package for debt-stricken Puerto Rico has cleared a major hurdle in the House and now heads to the Senate just three weeks before the island owes a $2 billion debt payment to creditors. The House on Thursday passed legislation to create a financial control board and allow restructuring of some of Puerto Rico's $70 billion debt.
House Republican leaders and President Barack Obama pressured lawmakers in both parties to back legislation to help ease Puerto Rico's financial crisis as the U.S. territory faces a $2 billion debt payment in just over three weeks. The House is scheduled to begin debate Thursday on a bill that would create a financial control board and restructure some of Puerto Rico's $70 billion debt.
Puerto Rico is facing three converging crises demanding congressional attention: hundreds of cases of Zika, a $72 billion fiscal disaster and growing financial concerns about its Medicaid program. As lawmakers consider a $1.1 billion package to combat the spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus that causes birth defects, the territory's long-standing problems with funding its joint federal-state health insurance program for the poor are coming to a head.
"We have a constitutional, political and moral imperative to act," said committee chairman Rob Bishop, the Utah Republican who has led negotiations on the bill. The legislation now moves to the House floor.
After weeks of delays, House Republicans are moving ahead with legislation to help Puerto Rico manage $70 billion in debt. A revised bill introduced late Wednesday would create a control board to help manage the U.S. territory's financial obligations and oversee some debt restructuring.