SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Puerto Rico's governor is pledging to lift the U.S. territory from a deep recession by creating more jobs, reversing a migration exodus and implementing a range of incentives as the island struggles to recover from Hurricane Maria.
Gov. Ricardo Rossello spoke Wednesday during a nearly two-hour state of the commonwealth address that followed a brief power outage. He also said he plans to hold a yes-or-no referendum on statehood as he criticized President Donald Trump's response to the Category 4 storm that hit September 2017.
Rossello also called on the U.S. Congress to review the way a federal control board overseeing the island's finances has been operating as Puerto Rico's government tries to restructure a portion of a public debt that exceeds $70 billion.