The first measure of the four-year period pays tribute to health workers

The first piece of legislation for the four-year period, written by the popular senator Jose Luis Dalmau Santiago, it is a simultaneous resolution that seeks to recognize “the heroic work of all health workers” in response to the pandemic from COVID-19.

The resolution was presented today at noon and is based in the context of the global emergency caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The measure orders the unveiling of a plaque on the first floor of the Capitol with the names of all health workers killed by the virus.

“In the first line of defense against COVID-19 are our health workers who have put their lives on the line by carrying out their work heroically and defending us all against this deadly virus. They have worked long hours for months, they have not seen their relatives, they have seen how other colleagues have died, and they have not ceased in their commitment to protect the health of all residents of Puerto Rico, ”the measure reads.

To date, 13 nurses have died from COVID-19, in addition to 11 doctors.

The second measure, presented by Ramón Ruiz Nieves, asks the resident commissioner Jenniffer González Colón to “take all relevant steps and enforce legislation for the Congress of the United States of America, so that Puerto Rico is exempted from the application of the cabotage laws provided for in the Jones Act of 1920 ″.

The statement of reasons for the measure states that the Jones Act “limits the maritime transit of the United States and its assets and / or territories.”

“This means that all maritime transportation between our island and other ports in the United States must be carried out in ships built and registered in North America. In essence, it requires the goods to be transported between the states, territories and possessions of the United States to pass through the North American merchant ship; registered or franchised by the US authority; of the crew of North American civilians; and that the owners of the ships are US individuals or legal entities. This forces us to use only the merchant navy of the United States of America, the most expensive in the world ”.

The application of cabotage laws on the island, which would cost Puerto Rico $ 426 million annually, is supported, among others, by the unions that group workers in the maritime industry.

“There is no doubt that the Jones Act of 1920 is an archaic and protectionist law of interests that have been preserved thanks to the economic benefits it brings. It is a law unsuitable for the 21st century that restricts free trade between nations and one that totally rejects the postulates of supply and demand. On the other hand, there should be no fear that shipping companies under the protections of the Jones Act of 1920 will disappear or be affected, because if they are efficient and reliable, the companies that receive their services will continue to hire them even without applying that law. restrictive legislation and regardless of the eventual entry of fair and healthy competition into our market with respect to said activity, ”said Ruiz Nieves.