from Jubilee USA
Puerto Rico’s humanitarian crisis is worsening and there are two important ways you can act.
Last week, our executive director Eric LeCompte testified before Congress on the human impact of Puerto Rico’s debt crisis and urged Congress to act on clear solutions to protect the 3.5 million Americans living on the island.
Eric was a powerful witness to Congress. “Self-imposed austerity in Puerto Rico is already proving harmful and counter-productive,” Eric told a packed hearing room and a dozen members of Congress. “At the root of today’s hearing lies the question, ‘How do we prevent a future debt crisis in Puerto Rico?'”
At the hearing, Eric noted that nearly half of Puerto Rico’s population lives in poverty. He talked about how some special education teachers on the island aren’t being paid, 200 schools have closed, funding for law enforcement is declining and 10% of the population has left in the last ten years. He noted that Puerto Rico even slashed its health budget, and is now more vulnerable to the Zika virus that is spreading on the island.
With Congress debating solutions right now – some good, some bad – we need your help.