A Puerto Rico for its People. Puerto Rico pa' su gente.

Puerto Rico is an island of extraordinary beauty, rich culture, and resilient people. But Wall Street vulture funds, federal neglect, and privatization schemes have allowed bad actors to extract its wealth while working families bear the cost. Natural disasters like Hurricane Maria exposed and deepened these failures, revealing the consequences of unrepaired infrastructure, an unreliable electric grid, and a federal government that has often treated Puerto Rico as an afterthought.

Puerto Ricans helped build New York City, and they continue to shape the political and cultural fabric of our district. NY-7 is home to a large and vibrant Puerto Rican community. We must continue the work of Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez and loudly champion the issues affecting both the island and Puerto Rican communities here at home. Claire will work for a reconstruction of Puerto Rico for Puerto Ricans.

As a member of Congress, Claire will fight to:

• Let the people of Puerto Rico determine their own political future by reintroducing the Puerto Rican Self Determination Act;
• Cancel Puerto Rico's unjust debt, abolish La Junta, and end the control of unelected financial overseers who have imposed austerity on working families;
• Build a publicly accountable, affordable, and reliable renewable energy system that serves residents instead of private utility companies and investors;
• Invest in resilient infrastructure that can withstand hurricanes, flooding, and other climate-related disasters while creating good-paying union jobs;
• Lower grocery costs by investing in Puerto Rico’s farmers, strengthen local food systems, and repealing the Jones Act;
• Clean up environmental contamination and address the health and safety impacts of decades of military activity on the island, with affected communities leading the process.

Democracy, Freedom, and Accountability

• Advance Puerto Rican Self-Determination

  Puerto Rico’s current status as a U.S. territory means that while residents are subject to federal laws, they do not have full voting rights or full representation in Congress. Polling has consistently shown that the people of Puerto Rico want an alternative. That is why Claire supports reintroducing the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act, introduced by Nydia Velázquez, which will create a democratic, inclusive, and legally binding process that will allow the people of Puerto Rico to determine their own status.

• Implement Comprehensive Debt Relief & Abolish La Junta

  Puerto Rico's debt crisis is the result of federal policies that limit the island's economic development and leave it without meaningful democratic representation. Congress bears responsibility for the conditions that created the crisis and owes Puerto Rico a solution. Comprehensive debt relief is essential to the island’s recovery. Claire will fight for full forgiveness of Puerto Rico’s Wall Street debt, ending the reign of predatory Wall Street speculators that make huge profits by slashing public services, selling government assets, and undermining the island’s ability to recover economically.

  Claire will also fight to abolish the unelected fiscal oversight board known as La Junta. For almost ten years, this unelected board has imposed austerity measures on Puerto Ricans without their consent, while raking in huge profits for hired consultants, and ultimately failing to solve Puerto Rico’s debt crisis or provide any meaningful relief.

• Hold LUMA Accountable & Build Reliable and Affordable Public Power

  Puerto Ricans deserve a renewable energy grid that is reliable, affordable, climate-resilient, and accountable to the people. Claire will work to hold the energy company LUMA accountable for its broken promises and mismanagement of the project, which has left Puerto Ricans without reliable or affordable power.

  Claire will support federal funding and oversight to rebuild Puerto Rico’s power system under democratic public control, lower energy costs, prevent repeated blackouts, and ensure the transition to clean energy creates good union jobs for Puerto Rican workers.

Invest in Puerto Rico’s Future

• Build Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Relief

  The aftermath of Hurricane Maria laid bare many of the political and structural shortcomings that have held Puerto Rico back. Immediately after the storm, Puerto Ricans struggled to access recovery funding because the application process required internet access, was in English, and required legal documents that many didn’t have access to. It was a process designed for the US mainland that failed the people of Puerto Rico. Additionally, much of the damaged infrastructure has still not been rebuilt or repaired because of stalled grants and a slow response from FEMA.

  Puerto Rico deserves the same support from its government as the rest of the country. Claire will fight to make sure new infrastructure is resilient and built with well paid union jobs.

• Invest in Agriculture and Repeal the Jones Act

  Puerto Ricans deserve a food system that is affordable, local, and resilient. But decades of underinvestment have weakened the island’s agricultural sector, forcing Puerto Rico to import an estimated 85% of its food from outside the island. That makes groceries more expensive and leaves families vulnerable whenever hurricanes, shipping delays, or other supply-chain disruptions hit. The Jones Act makes this worse by restricting how goods can be shipped between the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico, contributing to higher shipping costs for many basic goods.

  Claire will fight to invest in Puerto Rico’s farmers, strengthen local food systems, lower costs for working families, and fully repeal the Jones Act.

• Clean Up Pollution and Safety Hazards Left by Military Bases

  U.S. military activity in Puerto Rico has led to environmental degradation, threatened the health of locals, displaced residents, and created safety hazards from buried unexploded bombs. The remilitarization of formerly closed bases has brought further insult to injury, undermining the work of activists that have spent years organizing for the closure of the Roosevelt Roads Naval Base in Ceiba, and the bombing ranges in Culebra and Vieques.

  Claire will fight for the EPA to lead a full cleanup of the heavy metals and toxic chemicals left behind and the remediation of buried unexploded bombs, so that Puerto Ricans can live in an environment that is safe and clean.