“Puerto Rico is out of cash,” Alejandro Garcia Padilla, governor of the island commonwealth, said on Wednesday morning.

Garcia Padilla said Puerto Rico's ongoing debt crisis is not a partisan issue and affects everyone, including those not in the government.

"The fiscal crisis in Puerto Rico is real," Garcia Padilla said. "No one can argue seriously that there's anyone exaggerating on what we are facing, that Puerto Rico is facing the biggest fiscal crisis in its history. Puerto Rico is out of cash."

The governor explained that the debt crisis has been developing for decades. And while emergency measures have been underway to avoid a government shutdown in the U.S. territory, he noted the migration of Puerto Ricans into mainland U.S. has taken its toll on the commonwealth, leaving a small tax base.

The governor said Puerto Rico urgently needs a legal framework to restructure its liabilities. H added he doesn't want a bailout, but only requests "the tools to do the job."

Garcia Padilla called out the U.S. Congress for their role in the crisis. He said in 1996, Congress eliminated the competitive advantages for American enterprises in Puerto Rico, which led to hundreds of thousands of jobs, not just leaving the commonwealth, but going to other countries such as Ireland and Singapore.

In addition to the debt crisis, Puerto Rico has a health dilemma. Garcia Padilla acknowledged that the island's residents, who are also U.S. citizens, pay the same Medicaid and Medicare payments, yet receive less in return.

"We pay the same and we receive less. Puerto Rico healthcare system is also in distress," the governor said, adding the island has lacked more than a $1 billion in Affordable Care Act funding. "The disparity has forced thousands of healthcare professionals and patients to move stateside."

Garcia Padilla said it costs more for the U.S. when a Puerto Rican moves to Florida or New York to receive health treatment than it would if the assistance was provided within the island.

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, D-Ill., who spent his teenage years living in Puerto Rico, said if Puerto Rico's crises were to occur in any U.S. state, members of Congress would risk not voting in the omnibus bill unless the needs of their jurisdictions were addressed.

"I will not vote for an omnibus bill that does not respond to the needs of the people of Puerto Rico -- that does not begin respond to this economic crisis that Puerto Rico confronts tomorrow," Gutiérrez said.

As Latin Post reported, Puerto Rico's debt has grown to more than $70 billion. Garcia Padilla previously stated the current debt is "unpayable," and its size impedes the commonwealth from improving.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Politics Editor Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

Update: Rep. Luis Gutierrez was born in Chicago not in Puerto Rico as initially reported.