June, 17 2016, 11:00am EDT
Religious Leaders Ask Senators to Pass Puerto Rico Debt Legislation
WASHINGTON
Religious leaders from Puerto Rico and the US mainland meet with Senators to urge them to support legislation to restructure the island's debt. The leaders, including Reverend Enrique Camacho, the head of Catholic Charities affiliated Caritas Puerto Rico, held a prayer service and a briefing at the US Senate.
"Religious leaders know the urgency of the situation and it's religious leaders on the front lines of the humanitarian crisis," noted Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development coalition Jubilee USA, which organized the Senate meetings and events. "Until we have a solution, every day that passes means more pain for Puerto Rico's people."
The briefing includes US House of Representatives members who supported companion legislation that passed in the House last week, the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act.
Senate leadership announced it wants to debate the Puerto Rico legislation before July 1. The bill allows the US territory to restructure its $72 billion debt and creates an oversight board to monitor Puerto Rico's finances. The House bill includes an amendment that addresses Puerto Rico's 56% child poverty rate. Some lawmakers have raised concerns about labor protections.
"This is not a perfect bill, but it is an absolutely necessary bill," stated LeCompte. "Without immediate Congressional action, Puerto Rico's crisis will worsen."
Puerto Rico's religious leaders first called for action on the debt crisis in August, 2015. Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez Nieves of San Juan published an op-ed in The Hill on June 7th calling on Congress to pass the debt legislation despite its flaws.
Read more about today's Congressional Briefing and Prayer Service
Read Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez Nieves's op-ed in The Hill
Read a timeline of Puerto Rico's debt crisis
Jubilee USA Network is an interfaith, non-profit alliance of religious, development and advocacy organizations. We are 75 U.S. institutions and more than 750 faith groups working across the United States and around the globe. We address the structural causes of poverty and inequality in our communities and countries around the world.
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