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Para ver esta página en español, oprima aquí. PRWOW News ServiceMcClintock Accuses Acevedo Vila Of Performing Political FavorsBy Proviana Colon Diaz
January 18, 2002 New Progressive Party (NPP) Senate Minority Leader Kenneth McClintock denounced on Monday that Resident Commissioner Anibal Acevedo Vila receives funds from Political Action Committees (PAC) formed by several companies that would benefit from the Internal Revenue Code Section 956 tax incentive and not from the 30A. Acevedo Vila continues to lobby in favor of Section 956 instead of lobbying in favor of an extension for Section 30A, which would be ending soon. The donations received by Acevedo Vila from the PACs during his first year in office surpassed that received by former Resident Commissioner Carlos Romero Barcelo during his four-year tenure. Acevedo Vila allegedly received $31,640 last year while Romero Barcelo received $29,400 during four years. "Only after knowing the leading role played by the PACs in his political finances, Acevedo Vila's refusal to maintain the jobs of Section 30A and his insistence in promoting Section 956 can begin to be understood," McClintock said during a Monday morning press conference in his office. McClintock's intentions to run for the resident commissioner post in the 2004 general elections is widely known, and has made it his weekly habit to denounce alleged irregularities in Acevedo Vila's performance. McClintock argued that while Acevedo Vila campaigns in Puerto Rico in favor of controlling donations from the so-called PACs, in Congress the resident commissioner endorsed a legislation to duplicate the maximum of donations accepted by such groups. Although no new official reaction was issued by the resident commissioner on Monday his spokeswoman Juanita Colombani said his position remains the same as last Friday, when similar allegations were issued by members of the minorities. "All funds have been raised in accordance to the law and he welcomes any investigation against him," Colombani said. The press official added that Acevedo Vila would most probably be unavailable for the press during the next couple of days as he is concentrated in writing the speech he will give before the Legislature during a special joint session on Wednesday afternoon. As for the speech presentation, McClintock said the NPP Senate delegation unanimously agreed not to attend it as they believe it does not fulfill any "public purpose." McClintock added that legislatures are sworn to "legislate, investigate, supervise, and receive the State of the Commonwealth address from the governor in turn, not from the resident commissioner." The NPP Senate minority leader added that if Acevedo Vila wanted to inform the people of his "achievements" during his year in office he could have called on a press conference and leave it up to the media to decide if it was "newsworthy or not." Although he will not attend the message, McClintock said he will be available for reactions immediately after the presentation, as he will watch it on TV from his third floor capitol office. Meanwhile, it is expected that the NPP House minority delegation will hold a caucus on Tuesday after which they will announce their decision on whether or not to attend Acevedo Vila's message.
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