(Adds details on legislative action, quotes from lawmakers, background)
By Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON Dec 18 Puerto Rico's governor on Friday lambasted Congress for failing to act on its debt crisis even as U. S. House of Representatives lawmakers pledged to address the island's fiscal woes early next year after they return to Washington from a holiday break.
The House is expected to hold a Jan. 5 hearing on the U. S. territory's financial problems but its next debt payment is due Jan. 1.
"Despite being fully aware of and warned about Puerto Rico's fiscal and economic crisis, Congress decided today not to assist the 3.5 million American citizens of Puerto Rico," Governor Alejandro García-Padilla said in a statement.
The commonwealth faces a payment on Jan. 1 on debt of about $1 billion.
Democrats tried but failed to address the crisis in sweeping spending and tax legislation before Congress this week.
In a last-ditch effort earlier on Friday, U. S. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi sought to rush a bill aiding Puerto Rico onto the House floor but was blocked by Republicans, who control the chamber. She said she would advance a 90-day "stay of liability" in early 2016.
Lawmakers are expected to adjourn for the year as soon as Friday after passing the spending and tax package.
"We also must take action on Puerto Rico. It should've been in this bill," House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer told reporters after the passage of the larger spending bill.
The latest political wrangling comes as Puerto Rico continues to grapple with $72 billion of debt and a faltering economy. It is trying to restructure its borrowings, but García-Padilla said default is likely again.
The Obama administration has backed "common sense" efforts for the island, although the White House has said it does not support a bailout.
Pelosi said Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan pledged to hold the hearing as soon as the chamber comes back Jan. 5.
Still, it is unclear how congressional action after Jan. 1 would help.
"We believe it is unlikely, at least in the near term, that bankruptcy authorization would be extended to Puerto Rico," said
David Hitchcock, senior director at Standard & Poor's in New York. "Significant financial assistance . might also be difficult but it is not impossible".
"Anything that would happen in March, obviously would not be able to help them with their January 1st payment," he added.
If Congress does not act, its governor said, "this fiscal crisis will soon become a humanitarian crisis." (Reporting by Richard Cowan, Susan Heavey, Megan Cassella, Daniel Bases and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, Diane Craft)
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