Dozens of U.S. Senate Democrats have urged Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to act quickly on legislation that would give Puerto Rico access to bankruptcy protections and thus help the island territory address its dire fiscal situation.

In an open letter published on Jan. 27, the lawmakers insisted that any bill concerning the commonwealth that did not include bankruptcy language would not be a "real solution."

"We urge you to commit to working with us to swiftly enact legislation to give Puerto Rico access to appropriate restructuring tools," the Democratic senators told McConnell. "This is the only way Puerto Rico can respond effectively and responsibly to this growing financial and social catastrophe."

Rules for Puerto Rico Changed in '84, Dems Recall

In the missive, the senators further recalled that Puerto Rico was actually able to use such federal bankruptcy laws until 1984 "when Congress inexplicably excluded it from the nationwide approach to resolving municipal insolvency;" that is because Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond that year offered an amendment that stripped the territory of that option.

But given the commonwealth's default and its desperate negotiations with creditors, the bankruptcy rules must be reversed, the Democrats underlined.

"Time to get real," Schumer Insists

"When it comes to Puerto Rico, it's time to get real," New York Sen. Chuck Schumer told the New York Daily News. "Any half-baked thing that looks like an ornament but doesn't solve anything, we will block."

But Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley said late last year that retroactively changing the bankruptcy policy at the expense of investors was not a fair option, the Daily Caller recalled. And McConnell, for his part, said the issue needs to be looked at in depth.

"I think the Puerto Rico issue is something a lot of us are concerned about," the majority leader noted on Jan. 27. " A lot of discussion about what to do and as long as it doesn't involve the use of federal tax dollars, I think it is something we ought to figure out some way forward on."