Summary

TVU 2 BERNIE SANDERS EVENT SAN JUAN PR ABC UNI 051616 C16 INTRODUCTION AND DEBT 10:55:12 >> [ chant ] Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! SANDERS>> Thank you Alright Let me begin by thanking Jose Nicolas Medina Fuentes for that wonderful presentation [ speaking in Spanish ] Es un placer estar con ustedes Disculpenme pero mi espanol no es muy bueno y estaré hablando con ustedes el dia de hoy en inglés 10:55:50 Let me begin by telling you that I am more than aware that there is a humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico today and that the US congress and the administration must address this crisis as soon as possible The people of Puerto Rico are experiencing enormous economic pain as a result of a depression that has now lasted more than a decade Since 2006, Puerto Rico has lost 20% of its jobs About 60% of Puerto Rico's adult population are either unemployed or have given up looking for work Over the last 5 years alone, more than 150 public schools have been shut down and the childhood poverty rate has gone up to 57% 10:57:02 At a time when the rich get richer, Puerto Rico now has more income inequality than any state in the United States In the midst of this massive human crisis, it is morally unacceptable that billionaire hedge fund managers have been calling for even more austerity in Puerto Rico Austerity will not solve this crisis And as we all know from throughout the world, austerity will cause more suffering for working people and make the rich richer We must vigorously oppose all efforts at austerity 10:58:03 It is unacceptable to me that vulture funds on Wall Street are demanding that Puerto Rico fire teachers, close schools, cut pensions, and abolish the minimum wage so that they can reap huge profits off the suffering and the misery of the children and the people of Puerto Rico We cannot allow that to happen We will not allow that to happen [ cheers and applause ] I think all of us understand, and your government understands, that Puerto Rico's $70 billion debt is unsustainable and it is unpayable 10:59:01 And the reason that it is unsustainable has everything to do with the greed, the greed of Wall Street vulture funds And I just wanna say, having dealt with Wall Street for many, many years, their greed, their recklessness, their illegal behavior, has caused enormous problems all over the United States, in Puerto Rico, all over this world Which is why, among other things, I am fighting to break up the large banks on Wall Street [ cheers and applause ] The United States, Puerto Rico, the world needs a financial system which is designed to increase jobs, to grow the economy, not to live as an island unto itself only concerned about their own profits 11:00:08 These vulture funds are getting interest rates of 34% on tax exempt bonds that they purchased for $029 on the dollar That is obscene [ applause ] It has been estimated that as much as half of Puerto Rico's debt is now owned by these vulture funds We have got to make it clear to these billionaire hedge fund managers that they cannot have it all Children in Puerto Rico will not go hungry, will not lose education, will not lose health care to make billionaires even wealthier 11:01:06 And what must be made abundantly clear is that these hedge funds take a massive haircut They are not gonna get it all The people in Puerto Rico should not be forced to suffer even more so that a handful of wealthy investors, who have done so much damage all over this world can make even more money [ speaking spanish ] El futuro de Puerto Rico no debe ser secuestrado injustamente con fondos masivos And please forgive my pronunciation [ laughter ] Puerto Rico's debt must be restructured Puerto Rico must be given the time it needs to grow its economy, to create jobs, to reduce the poverty rate, and expand its tax base so that it could pay back its debt in a way that is fair and is just 11:02:19 The economic situation in Puerto Rico will not improve by eliminating more public schools, by slashing pensions, by laying off workers, and allowing corporations to pay workers starvation wages by abolishing the minimum wage and relaxing labor law Goldman Sachs, CitiGroup, and UBS racked up hundreds of millions of dollars in fees to manage Puerto Rico's bond sales These Wall Street banks have profited off of the suffering of the people in this island And together, we will end that process 11:05:11 Today, I am calling on the fed to use its emergency authority under section 133 of the Federal Reserve Act to pave the way for an orderly restructuring of Puerto Rico's public debt Under current law, the Federal Reserve has the authority, quote, in unusual and exigent circumstances to lend to individuals, partnerships, and corporations outside the banking system that are, quote, unable to secure adequate credit accommodations from other banking institutions, end of quote 11:05:56 Washington rescato a Wall Street de su bancarota, el pueblo de Puerto Rico es mas importante que ellos Debemos actuar ya 11:06:35 Moreover, in my view, we need an independent audit of Puerto Rico's debt If this audit determines and concludes that any of Puerto Rico's debt was incurred in violation of its constitution, it must be immediately set aside INFRASTRUCTURE / CLEAN ENERGY / COLONIAL TREATMENT 11:09:33 This legislation would help address Puerto Rico's crumbling roads and bridges, improve its ports, upgrade its drinking water and wastewater plants, and fortify flood control projects It would improve public transportation within cities like San Juan, Bayamon, and Carolina, and other major cities and towns It would modernize Puerto Rico's antiquated electric grid to end rolling blackouts and make it easier to integrate new solar and wind installations 11:10:15 And, very importantly, it would expand high speed internet and affordable broadband services throughout the island And as best as I can understand, when we talk about the need to climate change and in my view, climate change is a global crisis that has got to be dealt with throughout this world When we look at that crisis, it makes no sense to me that 99% of Puerto Rico's energy comes from fossil fuels Puerto Rico is blessed with abundant solar and wind resources and has great potential to expand biomass and geothermal energy 11:11:13 We must give Puerto Rico the tools it needs to aggressively move towards a clean energy economy instead of being depended on importing dirty fossil fuel that is bad for the environment, bad for the Puerto Rican economy, and bad for the planet In my view, it is time for the people of Puerto Rico to be allowed to take charge of their political future and for the United States of America to redefine its legal relationship with the people of this island 11:12:06 The people of Puerto Rico should not and cannot provide colonial-like treatment of its citizens The people of the United States cannot continue a colonial-type relationship with the people of Puerto Rico [ standing cheers and applause ] It is, it is unacceptable to me for the United States government to treat Puerto Rico like a colony during a time when its people are facing the worst fiscal and economic crises in its history OSCAR LOPEZ RIVERA 11:14:37 Probably all of you are concerned about Oscar Lopez Rivera [ cheers and applause ] Lopez Rivera is one of the longest serving political prisoners in history He has been in prison now for more than 34 years, longer than Nelson Mandela was in prison in South Africa He is currently incarcerated at the federal correctional institution in Terre Haute, Indiana in solitary confinement This man is 73 years old, and his health, as I understand it, is deteriorating rapidly We are talking here about a Vietnam War veteran who was awarded a bronze star and a respected community activist 11:15:32 A petition asking President Obama to immediately release Oscar Rivera Lopez from prison is, as I understand it, widely supported in Puerto Rico And that petition is supported by the AFL CIO, by Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King, Jr, by President Jimmy Carter, by ten Nobel Prize Laureates, by the United Methodist church, the Episcopal church, Puerto Rico, the Catholic Archbishop of San Juan, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and a number of political leaders and social activists in Latin America and in the caribbean I say to President Obama, let him out [ standing cheers and applause ] 11:22:50 If elected president of the United States, you will have an ally in the Oval Office Thank you very much THEY HAVE ANOTHER THING COMING 11:24:15 If the vulture capitalists on Wall Street think they're gonna squeeze Puerto Rico, they have another thing coming It ain't gonna happen LAST LINE 11:36:17 I understand that Puerto Rico today faces major, major challenges But I believe if we respect each other, if the people of Puerto Rico are given the respect and dignity and the help that they need, there is nothing that together we cannot accomplish Thank you very much