[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 21 (Thursday, February 2, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2071-S2072]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     PUERTO RICO'S COLONIAL DILEMMA

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, representing Puerto Rico in the 
House of Representatives is Carlos Romero-Barcelo, the former Governor 
of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
  I have worked with him through the years and have come to have great 
respect for him.
  One of his passions is that Puerto Rican citizens not be second-class 
citizens but have all the rights that the rest of us, as Americans, 
have.
  I share that passion with him.
  The blatant inconsistency of the way we treat people in Puerto Rico 
should be on the consciences of those of us who serve in the House and 
the Senate.
  Recently, Representative Romero-Barcelo sent a ``Dear Colleague'' to 
the Members of the House and enclosed an item of his that was published 
in the Washington Times about Puerto Rico.
  I ask to insert that at the end of these remarks and urge my 
colleagues in the Senate and the House to listen to his powerful 
message.
  The letter follows:

                                     House of Representatives,

                                 Washington, DC, January 24, 1995.
     Re Puerto Rico's colonial dilemma.

       Dear Colleague: On December 15, 1994, I wrote a column--a 
     copy is provided on the reverse side--published in the 
     Washington Times in which I discussed Puerto Rico's colonial 
     dilemma and the unequal treatment of U.S. citizens in Puerto 
     Rico.
       For the past 97 years, Puerto Rico has been and still is a 
     territory, or a colony, of the United States. The Island is 
     home to 3.7 million American citizens who are disenfranchised 
     and deprived of participating in the democratic process of 
     the Nation. This disenfranchisement has been justified by a 
     policy, created and maintained by Congress, which frees 
     residents of Puerto Rico from paying Federal personal and 
     corporate income taxes. Puerto Rico's residents do, however, 
     pay most all other Federal taxes and user fees. In addition, 
     this exemption from Federal income taxes has justified the 
     exclusion of the island's residents in critical Federal 
     programs such as Supplement Security Income [SSI].
       Moreover, through section 936 of the Internal Revenue Code, 
     the Federal Government has exempted subsidiaries of multi-
     national corporations in Puerto Rico from Federal corporate 
     taxes. Section 936 has resulted in a socio-economic policy 
     for Puerto Rico that is exactly opposite of the socio-
     economic policy of the rest of the Nation. While wealthy 
     corporations in Puerto Rico are given billions of dollars in 
     annual tax credits, the poor, the disabled, the elderly, and 
     children at risk are denied the same safety net and economic 
     opportunities that their follow citizens receive in the 50 
     States and the District of Columbia.
       Like the District, Puerto Rico has no voting representation 
     in Congress, yet its residents are also denied the right to 
     vote in the Presidential elections. This is significant 
     because the President is our top elected official and the one 
     who makes daily policy decisions that affect all citizens, 
     including those in Puerto Rico.
       We preach the virtues of democracy throughout the world. 
     Nevertheless, the United States still maintains the largest 
     colony in the world--Puerto Rico--home to 3.7 million 
     disenfranchised American citizens that are excluded from the 
     democratic process of their Nation.
       American citizens in Puerto Rico should not be denied full 
     participation in our great democratic experience. Residents 
     of the island should share in equality with their fellow 
     citizens in the 50 States, not only in the rights and 
     benefits protected by the U.S. Constitution but in the 
     responsibilities and duties as well.
       I urge you to read my column which sheds more light on 
     Puerto Rico's colonial dilemma and the unequal and unfair 
     treatment which our people receive as a result of the 
     existing colonial relationship.
           Sincerely,
     Carlos Romero-Barcelo.
                                                                    ____


               [From the Washington Times, Dec. 15, 1994]

                The Case for Puerto Rico's Voting Rights

                       (By Carlos Romero-Barcelo)
       Regarding your Dec. 6 editorial ``Taxation, representation 
     and the District'': As Puerto Rico's only elected 
     representative to Congress, I am, keenly aware of the 
     limitations faced by the five delegates in the House of 
     Representatives.
       Since the early 1970s we have been able to vote in the 
     House committees on which we serve. This important authority 
     was secured by the Puerto Rican delegate of the time, Jorge 
     Luis Cordova-Diaz. In 1993, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton 
     did indeed actively seek and obtain the right to vote in the 
     Committee of the Whole for herself and the other four 
     delegates. Although this was merely symbolic, we nevertheless 
     welcomed the opportunity for added participation in House 
     proceedings.
       With respect to the distinction you make between the 
     District's representative and the other delegates on the 
     basis of federal taxation in our respective districts, I 
     differ with your analysis, at least in the case of Puerto 
     Rico.
       First, Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory since 1898, is home to 
     3.7 million American citizens, who are disenfranchised and 
     deprived of participating in the democratic process of their 
     nation. Federal personal income taxes are not levied on 
     residents of the island, not because we don't want to pay 
     them, but because Congress has maintained this policy since 
     income taxes were first imputed in order to justify our 
     disenfranchisement. Nevertheless, most other federal taxes 
     and user fees are indeed applicable in Puerto Rico (e.g., 
     Social Security taxes, unemployment taxes, Medicare taxes, 
     customs duties, certain excise taxes and even income taxes on 
     income derived outside of Puerto Rico). In fact, the U.S. 
     Treasury collected from Puerto Rico $2.5 billion during 1993 
     (source Advanced Draft, IRS Commissioner's Report, 1993).
       The congressional policy of not extending federal income 
     taxes to the island has also been used as an excuse for not 
     granting equal treatment in federal programs to U.S. citizens 
     in Puerto Rico. For example, the Supplemental Security Income 
     (SSI) program is not applicable to otherwise eligible U.S. 
     citizens in Puerto Rico. Other critical programs such as 
     Chapter I education funds, Medicaid, Aid to Families with 
     Dependent Children and the Nutritional Assistance program are
      severely capped. Medicaid is capped at approximately 10 
     percent of what we would get if we were treated on an 
     equal basis.
       Moreover, Congress and successive administrations have put 
     in effect a tax and economic policy that has a ``reverse 
     Robin Hood effect.'' The federal government, for instance, 
     has opted to exempt subsidiaries of U.S. corporations in 
     Puerto Rico from federal corporate taxes through Section 936 
     of the Internal Revenue Code. The 936 tax credit has cost 
     U.S. taxpayers $50 billion in the past two decades. According 
     to the latest estimates from the Joint Committee on Taxation, 
     Section 936 will cost the federal government $19.7 billion in 
     the next five years. Congress has maintained, through Section 
     936, a tax policy that results in a socioeconomic policy for 
     Puerto Rico that is exactly the opposite of the socioeconomic 
     policy for the nation. While wealthy multinational 
     corporations are given billions of dollars in annual tax 
     credits (corporate welfare), hundreds of thousands of poor 
     families the disabled, the elderly, and children are denied 
     the same safety net and financial and economic support that 
     their fellow citizens receive in the 50 states and the 
     District of Columbia.
       The public and the national media have the false impression 
     that citizens in Puerto Rico do not pay any income taxes. 
     Nothing could be further from the truth. People in Puerto 
     Rico have indeed a very high local tax burden. Personal 
     income taxes in Puerto Rico are generally higher than 
     anywhere else in the United States, including jurisdictions 
     where people pay local/state and federal income taxes.
       Thus, it is the middle class, the working poor, the 
     indigent, the elderly and the children who suffer the 
     detrimental consequences of a federal taxation policy that 
     makes no sense in Puerto Rico, we do not set the rules; 
     Congress does I must reiterate that, just as in the case of 
     the District, Congress has absolute power over the affairs of 
     Puerto Rico. And just like the District, we have our version 
     of ``home rule,'' inappropriately referred to as 
     ``commonwealth.'' Make no mistake about it, Puerto Rico was 
     and continues to be, de facto and de jure, a territory or 
     colony of the United States.
       Second, although residents of the District, like their 
     counterparts in
      Puerto Rico, have no voting representation in Congress, at 
     least they are able to vote in presidential elections. 
     This is significant because the president is our top 
     elected official and the one who makes the daily policy 
     decisions that affect all citizens, including the ones in 
     Puerto Rico. All U.S. citizens, including those abroad, 
     are able to vote for the president, except those who make 
     Puerto Rico and the other territories their home. People 
     in Puerto Rico have no input in the election of the 
     nation's commander in chief, notwithstanding the fact that 
     they are subject to all federal laws and policies.
       Thousands of U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico have paid the 
     ultimate price and have died defending our shared democratic 
     values. In our armed forces, more Puerto Ricans have died in 
     armed conflicts during this century than citizens of any 
     other state (on a per capita basis).
       As mayor and governor, I have denounced federal tax policy 
     toward Puerto Rico that benefits most those who are wealthy 
     and penalizes the poor, the elderly, the children and the 
     working class. I urge federal policy-makers to take steps to 
     extend full and equal economic benefits and responsibilities 
     to Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans and all U.S. taxpayers will 
     benefit from uniform and sensible application of our fiscal 
     laws and our socioeconomic policies.
        [[Page S2072]] Finally, I have always maintained that we 
     want to share in equality with our fellow citizens in the 50 
     states, not only in the rights and benefits but in the 
     responsibilities and duties as well. At least in the District 
     of Columbia citizens are partially enfranchised with 
     political power. Not so the 3.7 million U.S. citizens of 
     Puerto Rico. Political power is the ultimate form of 
     liberation.
       It is ironic indeed that the virtues of democracy are being 
     highlighted during the Summit of the Americans while our 
     nation denies 3.7 million citizens the right to participate 
     in the democratic process. During the 1990s, the U.N. decade 
     of decolonization, the United States must face the 
     implications and repercussions of maintaining a colonial 
     relationship with its territories.
     

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