Treasurey Secretary hopes to jump-start help for Puerto Rico
Published 10:02 am Tuesday, May 10, 2016
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew got a first-hand look at the humanitarian impact of Puerto Rico’s $70 billion debt crisis Monday, touring an elementary school struggling with limited electricity and a hospital unable to provide some basic services to infants.
“It can only get worse,” Lew told reporters as he toured Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School in San Juan with Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla.
The Obama administration hopes to jump-start congressional efforts to aid the U.S. territory, and Lew’s one-day trip focused attention on how the 3.5 million U.S. citizens living on the island are struggling with the worsening financial situation.
At a brief news conference after a private tour of San Juan’s Centro Medico hospital, Lew said Puerto Rico’s problems were a human crisis as well as financial. He said infants who needed dialysis were unable to get it while children could only get cancer medicine if it were paid for in advance with cash.
Lew said he didn’t think there was a member of Congress who would find those conditions acceptable.
“What I have gotten to see first-hand is there is a growing crisis in Puerto Rico,” Lew said.
House Republicans are expected to announce new legislation this week to create a control board to help manage the island’s financial obligations and oversee some debt restructuring. It would be the third draft of the House bill, which has come under fire from some conservatives who worry it would set a precedent for financially ailing states.
In a kindergarten classroom, a teacher showed Lew and Garcia evidence of termites in the walls. The school has problems with electricity, and teachers said they were unable to use laptops, televisions and fans at the same time because they cause the power to go out.
In a fourth-grade classroom, a fan was broken on a hot day. A science teacher told Lew that she doesn’t have a lab for the children to do experiments.
“You all keep doing your work and we’ll keep doing our work to help you,” Lew told the children.