[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 23 (Thursday, February 27, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E351-E352]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THE INTRODUCTION OF THE UNITED STATES-PUERTO RICO POLITICAL STATUS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DON YOUNG

                               of alaska

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 27, 1997

  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, today, I'm pleased to introduce the 
United States-Puerto Rico Political Status Act (H.R. 856). This 
landmark legislation will end 100 years of uncertainty for the people 
of Puerto Rico and allow them to determine the political status for 
themselves and future generations.
  The text of the legislation is identical to the updated version of 
the bill introduced as H.R. 4281 in the 104th Congress on September 28, 
1996. This bill reflects the efforts of many of my colleagues during 
the last 2 years to formulate a fair, clear, and complete process that 
will once and for all, provide for the final resolution of Puerto 
Rico's political status. This is the starting point in the process 
which is long overdue and the people of Puerto Rico deserve.
  The Legislature of Puerto Rico has once again asked the Congress to 
take action to resolve Puerto Rico's political status. Two weeks ago, a 
bipartisan delegation from Puerto Rico personally delivered copies of 
the resolution, asking the 105th Congress--and I quote:

       to respond to the Democratic aspirations of the American 
     citizens of Puerto Rico in order to attain a process which 
     will guarantee the prompt decolonization of Puerto Rico, 
     through a plebiscite sponsored by the Federal Government, 
     which shall be held no later than 1998.

  This bill answers the Legislature's request by providing for a vote 
on Puerto Rico's political status before December 31, 1998.
  As the only Representative from Alaska--a State that made the 
transition from territorial status to full self-government--I know 
first hand that the process does work. This bill provides the process 
by which Congress and the residents of Puerto Rico define and approve 
politically acceptable options through a multi-staged Democratic 
process. This allows for the political will of the United States and 
Puerto Rico to be determined freely and democratically.
  The U.S. Congress and the President have a moral obligation to act so 
the people of Puerto Rico can finally resolve their status. We are 
taking action today by re-introducing the United States-Puerto Rico 
Political Status Act. Today marks the beginning of a historic effort by 
the Congress to actually solve Puerto Rico's political status.
  I appreciate the strong bipartisan support for this legislation by 
such a large number of Members of Congress during the 104th Congress, 
and now in the 105th Congress. I particularly want to thank Speaker 
Gingrich for his involvement and support of this measure since its 
inception. Puerto Rico's delegate, Resident Commissioner Carlos Romero-
Barcelo, has been working side-by-side with the sponsors of this bill, 
and his cooperation and leadership has been critical to this endeavor. 
My colleague from New York, Jose Serrano, has also been particularly 
supportive and helpful in this process. I also want to thank Chairman 
Gallegly, Chairman Gilman, Chairman Burton, Chairman Pombo, and Mr. 
Kennedy from Rhode Island for their outstanding efforts to address 
Puerto Rico throughout the 104th Congress; Chairman Solomon of the 
Rules Committee for his excellent work on the fast track procedures, as 
well as all the other distinguished co-sponsors for both political 
parties.
  Resolving Puerto Rico's political status is a top priority of the 
Committee on Resources Oversight Plan for the 105th Congress. The 
leadership of the House also recognizes this as a matter of the highest 
priority.
  To demonstrate the commitments of this Congress to act quickly on 
this matter, three hearings have been scheduled on this legislation. 
The first will be held in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, March 19, 1997 
to enable the leaders of the Government of Puerto Rico and the 
political parties to express their views regarding their preferred 
status. I will also ask the Clinton administration to present their 
formal position regarding the legislation at this hearing. In addition, 
two hearings will be conducted in Puerto Rico, the first in San Juan on 
April 19 and the second in Mayaguez on April 21.
  Those hearings will be dedicated to allow Congress to hear directly 
from the widest possible spectrum of views of the people of Puerto 
Rico. No proposal or idea will be excluded from the process, but we 
intend for Congress to work its will on this question in 1997.
  That is what the people of this Nation, including our fellow citizens 
in Puerto Rico, deserve from the 105th Congress, and in my view that is 
what the national interest requires us to do.
  Following is the text of House Concurrent Resolution 2, enacted by 
the Puerto Rico Legislature of January 23, 1997, which asks the 105th 
Congress and the President to sponsor a vote in Puerto Rico on 
political status before the end of 1998:

                     House Concurrent Resolution 2

       To request of the One Hundred Fifth Congress and the 
     President of the United States of America to respond to the 
     democratic aspirations of the American citizens of Puerto 
     Rico, in order to achieve a process that guarantees the 
     prompt decolonization of Puerto Rico by means of a plebiscite 
     sponsored by the Federal Government, which must be held no 
     later than 1998.


                          statement of motives

       As the present century draws to a close and a new 
     millennium full of hope is about to begin, men of good will 
     must act affirmatively to leave any colonial vestige behind 
     them.

[[Page E352]]

       The United States of America has contributed to fundamental 
     changes towards democracy and full participation in political 
     processes in other countries, thus asserting the universal 
     principles of human rights.
       Just as the United States has successfully promoted 
     democratic values in the international sphere, it is now 
     appropriate for that nation to attend to the claims for full 
     political participation of the 3.75 million American citizens 
     of Puerto Rico.
       On November 14, 1993, the Government of Puerto Rico 
     supported a plebiscite on Puerto Rico's status. Three 
     different political options were submitted to the People: 
     Statehood, represented by the New Progressive Party; 
     Independence, represented by the Puerto Rican Independence 
     Party; and Commonwealth, represented by the Popular 
     Democratic Party. This last option, redefined by its 
     advocates, is based on a bilateral pact that cannot be 
     revoked or amended unilaterally by Congress. It had the 
     following essential elements: first, parity of founding with 
     the states in federal assistance programs; second, tax 
     exemption within the scope of the former Section 936 of the 
     United States Internal Revenue Code, since repealed; and 
     third, the power of the Commonwealth to impose tariffs on 
     agricultural products imported into Puerto Rico. The 
     Commonwealth option obtained 48.2% of the votes cast in the 
     1993 plebiscite, while Statehood obtained 46% and 
     Independence, 4%. In a prior plebiscite, convoked by the 
     Government of Puerto Rico in 1967, Commonwealth had obtained 
     60% of the votes, while Statehood obtained 37.8%.
       On December 14, 1994, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto 
     Rico approved Concurrent Resolution No. 62. By means of this 
     Resolution, Congress was asked to state its opinion on the 
     redefinition of Commonwealth mentioned above. If the elements 
     of that redefinition were deemed not to be viable, Congress 
     was requested to inform the people of Puerto Rico about which 
     status options it would be willing to consider in order to 
     resolve our colonial problem, and what procedural steps 
     should be taken to this effect.
       On February 29, 1996, the leaders of the United States 
     House of Representatives Committee on Resources of the One 
     Hundred Fourth Congress and its Subcommittee on Insular and 
     Native American Affairs, together with the House Committee on 
     International Relations and its Subcommittee on the Western 
     Hemisphere, answered the People and the Legislative Assembly 
     of Puerto Rico by means of a Statement of Principles, 
     indicating the unfeasibility of accepting the redefinition of 
     Commonwealth submitted in the 1993 plebiscite. These same 
     Congressional leaders also expressed their interest in 
     promoting Federal legislation so that the One Hundred Fourth 
     Congress could expedite the steps to be followed in resolving 
     the status problem of Puerto Rico. They fulfilled their 
     pledge by submitting H.R. 3024 and S.R. 2019 with bipartisan 
     support, for the purpose of responding to Concurrent 
     Resolution No. 62, approved in 1994 by the Legislative 
     Assembly of Puerto Rico.
       On June 28, 1996 four Congressmen who are members of the 
     Minority Delegation of the House of Representatives of the 
     United States also responded to Concurrent Resolution No. 62, 
     through a letter in which they stated that ``it is clear that 
     Puerto Rico remains a non-incorporated territory that is 
     subject to the authority of Congress under the Territorial 
     Clause . . .'', thus upholding the conclusions set forth in 
     the February 29, 1996 letter, mentioned above.
       Barely a month later, on July 11, 1996, eleven Congressmen 
     belonging to the Minority Delegation of the House of 
     Representatives of the United States sent a letter to the 
     Minority Leader of the House, stating their total support of 
     H.R. 3024, which had been presented to that body in response 
     to Concurrent Resolution No. 62.
       The Subcommittee on Insular and Native American Affairs of 
     the United States House of Representatives, exercised primary 
     jurisdiction over the matters set forth in Concurrent 
     Resolution No. 62. While studying and approving H.R. 3024 on 
     June 12, 1996, the Subcommittee considered proposals--
     rejected until then--for the adoption of the redefinition of 
     Commonwealth, either as included in the 1993 plebiscite 
     ballot or, as an alternative, the non binding and never-
     adopted definition presented in a 1990 legislative report to 
     the United States House of Representatives on the status of 
     Puerto Rico. Both proposals on Commonwealth were 
     overwhelmingly defeated in votes of ten to one for the first, 
     and eight to one, for the second.
       On June 26, 1996, the House Committee on Rules adopted 
     House Report 104-713, Part 2, which endorsed well-founded 
     provisions for the purpose of facilitating congressional 
     consideration of the measures that responded to the results 
     of the self-determination process, as contemplated in H.R. 
     3024, which set forth a 3-stage decision-making process, with 
     periodic referral in the event of an inconclusive result in 
     any of the stages.
       We recognize that substantial progress was achieved during 
     the One Hundred Fourth Congress in establishing a federal 
     policy to promote the decolonization of Puerto Rico. But 
     today, at the commencement of the work of the One Hundred 
     Fifth Congress, the reality of the situation is that after 
     almost a century during which Puerto Rico has been under the 
     sovereignty of the United States, the Federal Government has 
     never approved or implemented specific measures geared to 
     promoting a process in a conclusive binding manner, by which 
     the American citizens of Puerto Rico may democratically 
     express their wishes regarding their final political status.
       We also recognize that even though important votes on the 
     political status in Puerto Rico were carried out in 1967 and 
     1993 under the auspices of the Government of Puerto Rico, 
     other voting events will be required in order to resolve the 
     status question once and for all; and that Congress has still 
     not defined the interests and responsibilities of the Federal 
     Government regarding that process.
       The need to resolve Puerto Rico's political status 
     persists. It must be carried out by means of an effective and 
     enlightened process, whose legitimacy is acceptable to 
     Congress, acting in the exercise of the sovereignty of the 
     United States over Puerto Rico, pursuant to the full powers 
     granted under the Territorial Clause of the Constitution of 
     the United States, Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 and which 
     enables the People of Puerto Rico to achieve a sovereign 
     political status through realistic and decolonizing 
     alternatives.
       Following the plebiscites carried out by local initiative 
     in 1967 and 1993 and the corresponding results, the Congress 
     of the United States has refused to accept and implement as 
     permanent and binding the definition of Commonwealth that was 
     presented to the voters in 1993. As a result, we must 
     establish a process based on options defined in such a way 
     that both Congress and the American citizens of Puerto Rico 
     recognize that a choice based upon perpetuating the lack of 
     political suffrage and the subordination to the plenary 
     powers of Congress under the Territorial Clause does not 
     represent the best interests of the residents of Puerto Rico 
     nor the rest of the United States.
       The final, permanent status of Puerto Rico should be 
     consistent with the democratic principles of freedom, human 
     rights and the goals of political, economic and social 
     development that constitute the legacy of a century in which 
     the political status of Puerto Rico has evolved within the 
     flexibility allowed under the American constitutional 
     framework. Although historical forces have caused the ongoing 
     evolution of Puerto Rico towards self-determination to be 
     delayed at sometimes and accelerated at others, now is the 
     time to take the final step. This historic moment requires 
     the adoption of measures that are carefully pondered yet 
     decisive, in order to solve the political status of Puerto 
     Rico by the beginning of a new century and a new millennium.
       In 1998 Puerto Rico must not complete one hundred years of 
     colonialism under the American flag without at least being in 
     an irreversible, inevitable process of decolonization.
       Be it Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico:
       Section 1.--To request of the One Hundred Fifth Congress 
     and the President of the United States of America to respond 
     to the democratic aspirations of the American citizens of 
     Puerto Rico, in order to achieve a means of guaranteeing the 
     prompt decolonization of Puerto Rico through a plebiscite 
     sponsored by the Federal Government, to be held no later than 
     1998.
       Section 2.--It is hereby ordered that this Concurrent 
     Resolution be delivered to all members of the Congress of the 
     United States of America, to the President, the Hon. William 
     J. Clinton, and to the Secretary General of the United 
     States.
       Section 3.--The Speaker of the House of Representatives and 
     the President of the Senate of Puerto Rico are hereby 
     authorized to designate a Special Joint Committee made up of 
     legislators from the three political parties of Puerto Rico, 
     for the sole purpose of personally delivering the text of 
     this Concurrent Resolution to the Speaker of the House of 
     Representatives and the President Pro-Tempore and the 
     Majority Leader of the Senate, and to the leaders of the 
     Minority delegations of the Congress.
       Section 4.--This Concurrent Resolution shall take effect 
     immediately after its approval.

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