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 As its economy reels and basic services are threatened, the U.S.
island territory is pleading for help from Washington, but lawmakers
have been unable to formulate a response, or even estimate when they
might be able to advance a legislative fix.
Puerto Rico is staring down a May 1 deadline for paying about $422
million to Government Development Bank bondholders.
With that as a backdrop, the Republicans who control the U.S. House
of Representatives huddled privately for 90 minutes on Friday to
hear ideas, then decided to go home.
"There may be different ways to fix a problem that may include doing
nothing and allow it to work through the court system," conservative
Republican Representative Mick Mulvaney, of South Carolina, told
reporters following the meeting.
 In the face of an election-year wave of radio, television and print
advertisements warning of a federal "bailout" for Puerto Rico, House
Republicans had already put off planned committee votes on a rescue
package earlier this week.
The Center for Individual Freedom, a conservative activist group,
has spent $200,000 on television advertisements around Washington,
D.C., this month, according to the Sunlight Foundation, a lobbying
watchdog.
The center's ads call for a halt to "the Washington bailout of
Puerto Rico." Another group that opposes a Puerto Rico rescue, Main
Street Bondholders, has run newspaper ads.
Radio spots have reached Utah voters warning of a "radical plan" to
usher Puerto Rico into bankruptcy and urging local Representative
Rob Bishop to protect investors. Bishop chairs the House committee
overseeing Puerto Rico legislation.
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With a 45 percent poverty rate and $72 billion in debt, Puerto Rico
needs an orderly way to shed some of its debt, leading Republicans
agree, though compromise on details remains elusive.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, the Obama administration and congressional
Democrats support a rescue effort to help Puerto Rico. A proposal
backed by Ryan and Bishop would lead investors towards a voluntary
reduction of loans and a compulsory write-down if no compromise were
possible.
Democrats have pressed for changes to a draft bill, knowing their
votes likely will be needed to win passage in the House.
Ryan has insisted that there is no "bailout" under development,
while scurrying to figure out how he can please conservative
Republicans without alienating too many Democrats.
Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama, a conservative stalwart, told
reporters: “The liberal, financially irresponsible members of the
Republican conference will cozy up to the Democrats and they will
work out an agreement.”
Anti-rescue ads are also running in Louisiana, whose Representative
Garret Graves said on Friday: "The campaign has been effective in
distorting reality."
(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh,
Bernard Orr)
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