[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5005 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5005

  To require periodic plebiscites in United States territories and to 
    require congressional notification of executive branch actions 
   impacting the status of United States territories, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 19, 1994

Mr. Torricelli (for himself, Mr. Romero-Barcelo, Mr. Gilman, Mr. Wheat, 
Mr. Gallegly, Mr. Andrews of New Jersey, Mr. Deutsch, Mr. Diaz-Balart, 
 Mr. Hastings, and Mrs. Meek) introduced the following bill; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require periodic plebiscites in United States territories and to 
    require congressional notification of executive branch actions 
   impacting the status of United States territories, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Territorial Consultation and 
Notification Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 of the Constitution, 
        also known as the territorial clause, grants Congress plenary 
        authority to provide for the governance of the United States 
        territories, including the determination of status.
            (2) The President and all executive branch officials should 
        closely consult with Congress on territorial matters.
            (3) Congress has the responsibility to promote the progress 
        of the people of the territories toward self-government 
        consistent with the principle of self-determination as defined 
        in the United Nations Charter, and this requires that the 
        Congress have regular and reliable information with respect to 
        the views of the voters in the territories on political status 
        issues.
            (4) The majority view of the voters in the territories can 
        be acquired by Congress most effectively and directly through 
        periodic plebiscites which are recognized by the people as the 
        opportunity to freely express their wishes.
            (5) Under Federal statutes approved by Congress, limited 
        self-government has been authorized for each of the United 
        States territories, and all persons born in the territories are 
        native born citizens of the United States pursuant to the law.
            (6) The decade of the 1990s has been declared by the United 
        Nations as the ``Decade to Eradicate Colonialism''.
            (7) In the November 4, 1993, plebiscite, a majority of 
        Puerto Rican voters for the first time voted against their 
        current status as a United States territory and supported 
        significant changes in the political and legal relationship 
        between the United States and Puerto Rico.

SEC. 3. REFERENDUMS ON TERRITORIAL STATUS.

    (a) In General.--All territories of the United States shall conduct 
referendums on the sentiments of their citizens regarding territorial 
status at least every five years.
    (b) Report of Results to Congress.--Within 30 days after the date 
results of an election held under subsection (a) are certified, the 
Governor of the territory concerned shall submit a report of such 
results to the President and to the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives and the President of the Senate, who shall refer the 
report to the appropriate committees.
    (c) Report by Appropriate Committees of Congress.--Within 180 
calendar days after the report described in subsection (b) is referred, 
each committee to whom the report is referred may submit a report to 
the Speaker of the House of Representatives or the President of the 
Senate, as the case may be, in which the results of the election are 
evaluated and recommendations (if any) are made for changes to the laws 
or policies of United States are made.
    (d) Implementation of Change in Status.--Within one year after a 
vote under subsection (a) in which a change regarding the territorial 
status has been approved, the President shall develop and report to the 
committees of Congress specified in subsection (a) the plans of the 
President for implementing the change in status.

SEC. 4. REPORT ON IMPACT OF POLICY AND REGULATORY MATTERS ON THE STATUS 
              OF UNITED STATES TERRITORIES.

    The President shall submit annually to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources 
of the House of Representatives a report on all policy and regulatory 
matters impacting the status of United States territories.

SEC. 5. NOTICE OF REGULATORY CHANGE AFFECTING THE STATUS OF UNITED 
              STATES TERRITORIES.

    No regulation that affects the status of United States territories 
may take effect until after 90 days after such regulation has been 
submitted to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 
Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 
Representatives.

SEC. 6. REPORT BY THE UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UNITED 
              NATIONS ON MATTERS PERTAINING TO UNITED STATES 
              TERRITORIES.

    Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the United 
States Representative to the United Nations shall submit a report to 
the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the House Committee on 
Foreign Affairs. The report shall include the following:
            (1) A description of any issues formally considered by the 
        United Nations during the past two years relating to the status 
        of United States territories.
            (2) A description of any such issues that are expected to 
        receive formal consideration in the United Nations in the next 
        year.

SEC. 7. DEFINITION OF UNITED STATES TERRITORIES.

    For the purposes of this Act, the term ``United States 
territories'' means the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth 
of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin 
Islands.
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