San Juan, PR – June 26, 2024 – David Skeel, Chair of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, today issued the following statement:
“When I was nominated by Senator Mitch McConnell and appointed by President Barack Obama as a member of the Oversight Board, I knew that the task ahead for my fellow board members and me would be demanding, complicated – and rewarding. The challenges have been formidable in ways I couldn’t possibly have foreseen in the summer of 2016, but, in the end, our work has been no less rewarding.
I have never done anything in my professional life that I consider as meaningful as my work for the people of Puerto Rico.
My time at the Oversight Board, however, will come to an end. After nearly eight years, I have informed President Joe Biden and Senator McConnell that I will not stand for a third term. My tenure will end when President Biden appoints a member to fill my seat and that appointment becomes effective.
When the Oversight Board was formed, Puerto Rico was on the brink of collapse, with no path to reduce its crushing debt. PROMESA opened a legal path, a fair path. It also opened a path for reforms that will usher in a better future.
I am proud of what we have accomplished together in cutting the debt and stabilizing Puerto Rico’s finances. Stability is not enough; we must continue our work to complete Puerto Rico’s recovery and hand our responsibilities back to the elected government. I know the Oversight Board will achieve PROMESA’s mandate of ensuring long-term fiscal responsibility, restoring sustainable economic growth, and providing the people of Puerto Rico with the opportunities they deserve.
The people of Puerto Rico, its government, and every member of the Oversight Board have been tested in ways that are difficult to put into words. The horrific Hurricane Maria, the terrible earthquakes, the sheer scale of the COVID-19 pandemic added dimensions to this massive bankruptcy and enormous fiscal crisis that changed our course and altered the solutions we know were necessary. Dedication, a highly skilled board and staff, and the belief that we couldn’t afford to fail got us to where we are today: a stable budget and a massively reduced debt.
I am deeply grateful to President Obama and to Senator McConnell for their trust in me. I would like to thank my fellow board members for their devotion. I would like to thank Executive Director Robert F. Mujica Jr., who is taking the Oversight Board’s work to the next level, and, hopefully, to its conclusion.
I would like to thank our staff, a group of extraordinary Puerto Ricans who have devoted more than just their careers to help Puerto Rico succeed. Working for the Oversight Board has never been a nine-to-five job, and I am reminded of this during every board meeting, and indeed every Friday when Robert and our staff brief us on their work and our progress, and help us board members make the decisions that are right for Puerto Rico and its people. And I would like to thank Natalie Jaresko, who, as our first Executive Director, built this organization and laid a solid foundation for our success.
When I leave the Oversight Board, the Puerto Rico I saw and the people I met here will continue to be a part of me. I am convinced we, the Oversight Board, did our best and what is right, a conclusion I draw based on our results, my conscience, and my faith. Puerto Rico today is better off than in 2016, and that is what matters.”