Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that the Senate will consider a rescue package to ease Puerto Rico's financial crisis before the U.S. territory's $2 billion payment to creditors is due July 1, the Associated Press reported today. The House overwhelmingly passed legislation to create a new control board and restructure some of Puerto Rico's $70 billion debt last week. The Senate is expected to take up the same bill "sometime before the end of the month," McConnell told reporters yesterday. Some senators have opposed the legislation, though, and that opposition could slow passage. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) has spoken out strongly against the House bill, saying that the control board would take away the rights of ordinary Puerto Ricans and has colonialist overtones. He said he is hoping to try and amend the House bill when the Senate debates it. Some Republicans have expressed concerns that it could serve as a precedent for financially stressed states. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Finance Committee, said that he doesn't like the House legislation but acknowledged that "I think I'm going to have to" support it.
