Republicans Back Puerto Rico Help, Balk at Bankruptcy Push
Puerto Rico has drawn increasing attention on Wall Street and in Washington as the island struggles with $72 billion of debt that Garcia Padilla says it can’t afford to pay.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) (C) talks with reporters after leaving the Senate floor at the U.S. Capitol May 18, 2015 in Washington, DC.
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A growing number of Republicans in the U.S. Congress are saying they want to support Puerto Rico as it wrestles with an escalating debt crisis, though they’ve stopped short of backing legislation allowing for municipal bankruptcy.
Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah said he wants to help the commonwealth and will study a measure to allow some government agencies to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection. Senator Charles Grassley, who heads a committee with jurisdiction over such legislation, said he talked to Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla about it.