WASHINGTON (AP) – House Republicans are attempting to hold together a rare bipartisan deal to help Puerto Rico manage its crippling finances as a committee considers the legislation on Wednesday.
The bill to create a financial control board and restructure some of the U.S. territory’s $70 billion debt has support from House Republican and Democratic leaders, as well as the Obama administration. But some bondholders, unions and island officials have opposed it.
“We have a constitutional, political and moral imperative to act,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, the Utah Republican who has led negotiations on the bill. The panel began considering the legislation Tuesday evening, and a final committee vote is expected Wednesday.
The legislation won new support from Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress, who said people on the island fear for their finances and their future.
“Accepting a board is personally painful, but it is also the right and necessary thing to do,” Pierluisi said.