June 22, 2016

U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C.  20510

Dear Senator,

On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I strongly urge you to take up the House-passed legislation, H.R. 5278, the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA).  This legislation creates an essential mechanism to thwart a taxpayer bailout of Puerto Rico’s fiscal failures. 

PROMESA would establish an oversight board to assist the government of Puerto Rico and the territory’s instrumentalities in managing public finances.  The legislation also provides reforms that will allow the territory to fulfill its debt obligations responsibly and efficiently.  It is designed to address problems related solely to Puerto Rico and will not have any impact on existing bankruptcy provisions that govern states or their municipalities.  The bill will also help the citizens of Puerto Rico prosper from a growing economy. 

The structure of the oversight board is based on the precedent established in 1996, when Congress set up a financial control board to oversee the fiscal affairs of the government of the District of Columbia, as well as the control board set up for New York City in 1975.  PROMESA is not a bailout, despite misleading advertisements to the contrary.  Indeed, without the enactment of S.2328, taxpayers will inevitably be forced to bailout Puerto Rico after a $2 billion debt payment is missed on July 1, 2016.

I urge you to vote in favor of PROMESA in order to create a fiscal oversight board for Puerto Rico and ensure that taxpayers are not liable for any defaults on the territory’s debt obligations.  All votes pertaining to PROMESA will be among those considered in CCAGW’s 2016 Congressional Ratings. 

Sincerely,

Tom Schatz
President, CCAGW