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Friday, May 10, 2012

Pierluisi Speaks on House Floor About Proposed Cuts to Puerto Rico’s Medicaid Program: “This is a Fight We Intend to Win”

Washington, DC- The subject of the potential $5.4 billion cut in Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico and the other territories was discussed on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives today, as the House considered H.R. 5652, the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012.

First, a formal conversation on the subject, known as a colloquy, took place between Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart, the Florida Republican, and Congressman Joe Pitts, the Republican Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Health.

After Díaz-Balart described the negative impact that the proposed cut would have in Puerto Rico and praised Governor Luis Fortuño for his fiscal responsibility, Congressman Pitts responded that “I’ll gladly work with the gentleman [Mr. Díaz-Balart] and Governor Fortuño to address the needs for the most vulnerable citizens in the territory.”

A few moments later, Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi rose to speak on the floor, and renewed his attack on the legislation before the House, saying that it was clearly discriminatory because it singled out the Medicaid programs in Puerto Rico and the other U.S. territories for a 65 percent cut, while barely touching Medicaid funding for the states.

Directly addressing Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan, the Chairman of the Budget Committee, Pierluisi reminded Mr. Ryan that, “in the case of the territories, we are talking about an actual cut. We are not talking about a reduction in the growth of our funding, because we have a [federal Medicaid] cap to live with.”

The Resident Commissioner concluded his remarks by saying: “Just as we fought to obtain the funding that the Republicans now seek to repeal, we will fight alongside our allies in the White House, the Senate and this chamber to retain this funding. This is a fight we intend to win.”