Sec. 3. Findings
295 words·~1 min read·
/bill/115/s/3262/is/section-3A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds that— millions of citizens of the United States reside in territories of the United States; the Federal Government owes a special duty of care and stewardship to the citizens of territories of the United States because— historically, Federal administration of these territories was often wanting and many residents of the territories faced discriminatory treatment by the Federal Government; the economies of these territories face special constraints, including diminishment of property tax bases because of large, untaxed, Federal land holdings; and these territories lack the benefits of many Federal programs, such as Supplemental Security Income, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and full access to Medicaid; prolonged economic downturns, declines in population, and natural disasters have resulted in some territories of the United States and the instrumentalities of those territories having unsupportable debt burdens on financial obligations, which cannot realistically be repaid without imposing undue hardship on the citizens and residents of those territories; disaster recovery funds that are provided by the Federal Government should be used for disaster recovery and not for direct or indirect debt payments; unsecured creditors of financially distressed territories and instrumentalities of those territories have little prospect of recovery upon default because of— the severe indebtedness of those territories; and the lack of effective remedies for unsecured creditors against those territories and the instrumentalities of those territories; and the people of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico deserve to know about the social, political, and legal factors associated with the amount of the public debt of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico accrued over the past 5 decades, and the Federal Government has a responsibility to support efforts to obtain those answers, including public or private efforts to conduct a comprehensive audit of the public debt of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.