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00:00Ise Michelle CAC was just describing here at the island a pretty dire circumstance right now and from everything we've been hearing. If it doesn't get aid things will only get worse . Well first of all the island has been in difficulty for some time. That's why last September of 2016 I raised these issues on the Senate floor. I raised it in December as an alarm bell . That was the time to deal with this in a rational way. The process of legislation which means promise in Spanish is a false promise because it doesn't provide a clear pathway to restructuring in the bankruptcy court which is the only reason we're even considering the legislation in the first place . There are many obstacles and it creates a control board who in their sole discretion will determine whether or not the government of Puerto Rico has done everything they should to have access to restructuring in the bankruptcy court. And it requires a supermajority of that board of which there is no representation from the people of Puerto Rico to ultimately allow Puerto Rico to go to restructuring. That means five of the seven votes must vote affirmatively to allow Puerto Rico to go to restructuring which means that a minority three of the seven could actually stop restructuring for who knows how long . Regardless of what Puerto Rico does so it is a neocolonial process that doesn't allow the people of Puerto Rico to have a say over the tough choices that will have to be made. Doesn't provide a clear pathway to restructuring in the bankruptcy court and eliminates federal overtime protections and minimum wage protections for youthful workers in Puerto Rico. That's simply wrong. A procedural vote passed in the Senate today and presumably there's going to be another vote tomorrow at some point so that what if it does pass in full. It will arrive on President Obama's desk before the deadline for the bond payments . You're trying to have an amendment introduced what exactly would that amendment say. Well it would take the very essence of these shortcomings of the process a bill and change it it would add representation from Puerto Rico to the board. It would provide a clear pathway to restructuring. It would take away the super majority vote to restructuring it would eliminate the provisions that would nullify minimum wage and overtime protections for Puerto Rican workers. I mean the way to prosperity for people in Puerto Rico is not to cut back on their earnings as they try to work. And it would also provide some better pension protections that exist right now which are virtually none. There are many other flaws in the bill but these are five essential and I don't think it's too much to allow the three point five million United States citizens in Puerto Rico the opportunity to have that moment in the United States Senate. And I will be offering if I'm given an opportunity right now the majority leader has the floor closed which means he's not allowing anybody to even speak. If I get that opportunity I will speak as to these issues and I will offer a motion to table one of the existing amendments and offer my amendment and replace. But Senator from what I understand doesn't the bill already require that residents of Puerto Rico at least one resident of Puerto Rico must sit on the control board and the control board has the power would have the power if not enough creditors are agreeing to a restructuring plan the control board can take this into a court and go through a court process which would force any investor holdouts to work through this with the control board. Actually the control board first of all as it relates to the appointment there is one person that must be appointed by the speaker whose principal residence and or business principal business must be in Puerto Rico but that does not come from the Puerto Rican people. It comes from the speaker and he could just choose someone who has a principal business in Puerto Rico but doesn't even live there. And that's one out of seven who's going to determine the future of three and a half million people. Secondly the reality is that the oversight board can create so many hurdles for Puerto Rico and say you know what you still haven't done a reasonable effort to deal with your creditors go back to the table go back to the table and they will be the only entity to decide in their sole discretion with a supermajority vote whether there is ever a pathway to restructuring in the bankruptcy court. Senator have you spoken with Governor Padilla. Is he backing your efforts . No. Governor Padilla who is not running for re-election sees the emergency of the situation recognize he endorsed the legislation that I introduced and said it was the legislation he wanted to see. But when the gun was put to his head that it's either this or nothing. He said Well I'd rather have this the Resident Commissioner who is the representative Puerto Rico in the Congress. He lost his election because he stood for this . Fifty nine percent of the people of Puerto Rico and that level they're the the Territory's largest newspaper are against the promise of bill so it speaks volumes that the people of Puerto Rico are against that their elected representative lost his race for governor and that the actual governor isn't running the people of Puerto Rico don't want this bill and the July 1st deadline. By the way which everybody keeps talking about the bill calls for a retroactive stay of any decision of any court or any legal action to December of last year. So any action that would even take place if this is delayed would be stayed as a result of the bill's wording in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in a similar set of circumstances issued the same type of decision. And the third circuit covers the island of Puerto Rico .

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Menendez: Puerto Rico Needs Clearer Path to Restructuring

Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, discusses Puerto Rico's debt crisis with Bloomberg's David Gura, Vonnie Quinn and Michelle Kaske on "Bloomberg Markets." (Source: Bloomberg)

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