Written by Jubilee USA Network   

Speaker Paul Ryan is holding a special meeting with Republicans to discuss the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA). ‎The legislation was to be debated on Thursday, but Republican leadership slowed the process down because of negotiations on the legislation. Ahead of the Republican special session, the religious development group Jubilee USA sent a letter from its executive director stating, "We believe legislation has made positive, forward progress on key elements and, while not perfect, we believe there are several improvements that will provide consensus for bill passage."

In his letter to Congress, Jubilee USA's Eric LeCompte urges changes to the bill to protect Puerto Rico from debt litigation, improve budget transparency, give Puerto Ricans a greater voice in the proposed oversight board and set clear targets for reducing child poverty in Puerto Rico.

"Any solutions Congress moves forward should promote budget transparency, reduce child poverty and ensure strong provisions to restructure the debt," wrote LeCompte. "There can be no economic growth until the debt is brought back to sustainable and payable levels."

The letter calls on Congress to use the proposed oversight board to reduce child poverty in Puerto Rico. More than half of Puerto Rico's children live in homes that receive government assistance and 80% live in high-poverty areas. Puerto Rico is cutting services for education, health care and law enforcement to pay its debt.

"An oversight board must make specific recommendations to the government of Puerto Rico and set obtainable goals that would lower the number of children living in poverty," wrote LeCompte.

Read Jubilee USA's letter to Congress on HR 4900, the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act: http://jubileeusa.org/fileadmin/Jubilee_USA_letter_on_PROMESA.pdf

www.jubileeusa.org