[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1965 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1965
To set forth the terms for the admission of the territory of Puerto
Rico as a State of the Union.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 28, 2019
Mr. Soto (for himself and Miss Gonzalez-Colon of Puerto Rico)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To set forth the terms for the admission of the territory of Puerto
Rico as a State of the Union.
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 ``Puerto Rico Admission Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the duly elected legislature of Puerto Rico passed
legislation to hold a plebiscite on the status of Puerto Rico,
which was enacted on June 11, 2017;
(2) in that plebiscite, voters were given choices:
Statehood, Free Association/Independence, Current Territorial
Status;
(3) that plebiscite was duly noticed and held on June 11,
2017 in accordance with all Puerto Rico and Federal laws;
(4) that plebiscite was satisfactorily observed by a
bipartisan Congressional Delegation of Representative Don Young
and Representative Darren Soto; and
(5) 97.2 percent of votes favored Statehood.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
The purpose of the Act is to set forth the terms for the admission
of the territory of Puerto Rico as a State of the Union.
SEC. 4. ADMISSION INTO THE UNION.
(a) In General.--Subject to the provisions of this Act, upon
issuance of the proclamation required by section 5, the State of Puerto
Rico is declared to be a State of the United States of America, and is
declared admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the other
States in all respects whatever.
(b) Constitution of State.--The State Constitution shall always be
republican in form and shall not be repugnant to the United States
Constitution and the principles of the Declaration of Independence. The
current Puerto Rico Constitution is deemed to be republican in form and
in conformity with the United States Constitution and is hereby
accepted as the constitution of the State of Puerto Rico.
SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after enactment of this
Act, the President shall issue a proclamation announcing that Puerto
Rico is admitted into the Union on equal footing with other States in
all respects.
(b) Admission of State Upon Issuance of Proclamation.--Upon the
issuance of the proclamation under subsection (a), the State shall be
deemed admitted into the Union as provided in section 4.
SEC. 6. STATE OF PUERTO RICO.
Upon the admission of Puerto Rico into the Union as a State, the
following apply:
(1) Territory.--The newly admitted State of Puerto Rico
shall consist of all its islands, together with the appurtenant
reefs and territorial waters in the seaward boundary, presently
under the jurisdiction of the territory of Puerto Rico.
(2) Continuity of government.--Persons holding executive,
legislative, and judicial offices in the Government of Puerto
Rico shall continue to discharge the duties of their respective
offices consistent with the United States Constitution, Federal
laws applicable to Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Constitution,
and the laws of the State of Puerto Rico.
(3) Continuity of laws.--
(A) Territory law.--All of the territory laws in
force in Puerto Rico on the date of the enactment of
this Act shall--
(i) continue in force and effect in the
State, except as modified by this Act; and
(ii) be subject to repeal or amendment by
the legislature and the Governor of Puerto
Rico.
(B) Federal law.--All of the laws of the United
States shall have the same force and effect as on the
date immediately prior to the date of admission of
Puerto Rico into the Union as a State, except for any
provision of law that treats Puerto Rico and its
residents differently than the States of the Union and
their residents, which shall be amended as of the date
of admission to treat the State of Puerto Rico and its
residents equally with the other States of the Union
and their residents.
(4) United states citizenship.--No provision of this Act
shall operate to confer United States citizenship, nor
terminate citizenship hereto lawfully acquired, nor restore
citizenship terminated or lost under any law of the United
States or under any treaty to which the United States is or was
a party.
SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, or any section, subsection, sentence,
clause, phrase, or individual word, or the application thereof to any
person or circumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder
of the Act and of the application of any such provision, section,
subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or individual word to other
persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
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