I.

Good evening.

Yesterday, pursuant to Law 21, I ordered a moratorium on the debt service payment due by Government Development Bank today.

In light of Congress's inaction, we were forced to enact Law 21 to protect the education, health and public safety and other essential services of our citizens from creditors.

Let me be very clear, this was a painful decision. We would have preferred to have had a legal framework to restructure our debts in an orderly manner.

But faced with the inability to meet the demands of our creditors and the needs of our people, I had to make a choice. I decided that essential services for the 3.5 million American citizens in Puerto Rico came first.

II.

This is the Puerto Rican reality that I inherited:

Most of our children receive their education in public schools.

Half of our population gets its health care from the government. And that includes prescription drugs that our people need to survive.

The Puerto Rico government is the only provider of tertiary care.

We can't shut down the Medical Center, it's the only health care facility that provides services to multiple trauma patients.

The situation is so difficult that we can barely provide the services that our special education students desperately need.

Our resources are so scarce that we are struggling to pay the fuel supplier for the police patrol cars and emergency response vehicles.

At this point, we simply don't have enough money to pay for all these services and pay our creditors.

Both, Congress and our creditors, are fully aware of this situation.

They know that only a congressionally approved restructuring process can provide a comprehensive solution.

So far, no action has been taken. The crisis escalates each passing day.

III.

Almost a year ago, we were forthright in announcing that Puerto Rico could not pay its $70 billion debt without restructuring it and Congress's assistance.

In our efforts to avoid a humanitarian crisis, we have repeatedly traveled to Washington to convey the urgency of the situation. We have testified before

Congress on multiple occasions. U.S. Treasury Secretary, Jacob Lew, has also repeatedly explained the perils of the crisis.

IV.

We have asked Congress in many occasions to give us the tools to restructure our financial liabilities. We do not want a bailout. We haven't asked for a bailout.

We haven't been offered a bailout. I repeat, we do not want and we haven't been offered a bailout. A restructuring process will cost nothing to American

taxpayers. We simply want the legal tools needed to address our insolvency crisis and ensure the sustainability of Puerto Rico.

A draft bill is before the House Committee on Natural Resources.

However, so far it is facing resistance because of internal partisan and ideological divisions in the House.

Puerto Rico needs Speaker Paul Ryan to exercise his leadership and honor his word.

We can't wait longer. We need this restructuring mechanism now.

V.

We are fully aware that the opponents of the people of Puerto Rico are powerful.

They have unleashed a brutal campaign of racial discrimination and lies against us.

They have convinced some congressmen that what the people of Puerto Rico need is not a fair restructuring process but further austerity.

In an act of pure greed, vulture funds and their lobbyists want to deprave Puerto Rico from this basic democratic principle. Just as they succeeded 30 years ago in excluding Puerto Rico from Chapter 9 of the

Bankruptcy Code.

VI.

If Congress fails to authorize a mechanism to restructure our debt, the 3.5 million American citizens who live in Puerto Rico will continue to suffer.

This help must be accompanied by Congress's respect for Puerto Rico's self-government. The right of self-government belongs to the people, in this

case to the people of Puerto Rico.

It could become a public embarrassment for the United States to admit before the international community that while it fights for democracy in foreign lands, it denies democracy it in its own backyard.

We would welcome an Oversight Board that would assist the elected government of Puerto Rico in balancing its budgets and improving its fiscal

discipline.

But we strongly oppose a Board that overrules an elected government by deciding how our taxpayer money is spent or who gets paid first, or that is

permitted to veto, amend or repeal our laws at will and without any accountability to the people of Puerto Rico. Our ties to the United States are based on U.S. citizenship and a shared commitment to justice, democracy and freedom.

For Congress to act otherwise, would be to reinstate colonial power over Puerto Rico. This will open a Pandora's Box with dangerous and unforeseen

consequences.

We are already embroiled in a fiscal, economic and humanitarian crisis. We don't need to add a political one.

VII.

The vast majority of Puerto Ricans have been loyal citizens.

We have shed our blood in countless American battles.

During the first half of the Twentieth (20th) century, we served in segregated units, facing hate and discrimination.

However, it was our soldiers in the 65 Infantry Regiment, the well-known Borinqueneers, who, heavily outnumbered, and enduring freezing weather, freed thousands of U.S. Marines held captive along the border of China and North Korea. They did it because they believe in the quintessential American

values of liberty and democracy for all.

VIII.

We have proven with blood our shared values with the United States. Now, Congress must show this commitment is mutual.

We will continue working to try to reach a consensual solution with our creditors. That is one of our commitments.

But what we will never do is put the lives and safety of our people in danger.

They are, and will continue to be, our priority.

Thank you.