[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 101 (Friday, July 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H6424-H6427]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




A CHRONOLOGY OF IMPORTANT POLITICAL AND CULTURAL EVENTS IN PUERTO RICO 
                              (1493-1997)

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about a subject which 
is of great importance to many of us in my community, and certainly 
should be of great importance to all Americans.
  Tomorrow we will observe, July 25, 1998, the 100th anniversary of the 
relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico. One hundred 
years ago, the United States troops, during the Spanish-American War, 
invaded Puerto Rico, and since then Puerto Rico for these 100 years has 
been a territory of the United States.
  Tomorrow, throughout the 50 states and on the island of Puerto Rico, 
there will be different groups involved in different forms of 
observances or celebrations. Some will celebrate the day claiming that, 
in their belief, this relationship has been the best thing that ever 
happened to the Island of Puerto Rico. Others, on the other hand, will 
lament the relationship and feel that it has been totally unfair.
  Some groups on one side, as I said, will claim that nothing has gone 
wrong for these 100 years, and some folks on the other side will say 
that nothing has gone right for these 100 years.
  I believe that somewhere in between is the truth. But in order to 
really speak about this subject and how we got here and where we are 
and where all Americans should begin to deal with this issue, I think 
it is important to take just a couple of minutes to talk a little bit 
about the history of how we got here.
  Puerto Rico, as so many of you may know, was discovered in 1493 by 
Christopher Columbus, and from then to 1898 it was a colony of Spain. 
In 1508, the first Governor in Puerto Rico was assigned, and his name 
was Juan Ponce de Leon, or, as he is better known within the 50 states, 
as Ponce de Leon.
  The years went on, and Puerto Rico remained no better than a full 
colony of Spain. But by 1865, nearly 400 years later, there was already 
discussion between the Spanish government and the Island of Puerto Rico 
in terms of creating a new arrangement.
  Therefore in 1865, a royal decree was issued convoking delegates from 
Cuba and Puerto Rico to Madrid to discuss possible reforms to the 
colonial regime. The Puerto Rican delegates go there and they speak 
about decentralizing the municipal government, having more powers as 
people, taking some of the powers from the Governor, who was appointed 
by Spain, and abolishing slavery. No accord is reached, and the 
delegates who speak out for such reforms are in fact persecuted. 
Meanwhile, back in New York, the Republican Society of Cuba and Puerto 
Rico is established to promote the cause of independence for both 
islands.
  In 1895 the Puerto Rican section of the governing body of the Cuban 
Revolutionary Party is established in New York, and Puerto Ricans at 
that time adopt their own flag, which is the same as the Cuban flag, 
with the colors reversed. Jose Marti is the leader of the party, and it 
is right here within the 50 states, in New York, that the movement 
against Spain for independence for Puerto Rico comes into play.
  However, something happens on the way to 1898. Spain, for whatever 
reason, begins to realize that times have to change, and so Spain 
begins to discuss the possibility of granting autonomy to the Island of 
Puerto Rico.
  On February 9, 1898, Puerto Rico's autonomous government is 
inaugurated with a provisional cabinet. It provided a high degree of 
administrative autonomy for Puerto Rico, and, under the charter, the 
Island was governed by the local parliament, composed of two chambers 
and a Governor general. The chambers were the Administrative Council, 
which were elected, and a version of the House of Representatives, 
popularly elected.
  These chambers had full legislative authority except over such 
matters that the Spanish government wanted to keep, and these folks 
were then allowed to go to Spain and represent the Puerto Rican 
community, the Island of Puerto Rico, in Spain.
  It is interesting to note that in this agreement the people 
representing Puerto Rico in Spain had actually reached more autonomy 
and more powers than the current delegate from Puerto Rico enjoys as a 
Member of the U.S. Congress.
  But that could not take place, because, in the meantime, on February 
15, the sinking of the American ship the Maine provided an immediate 
reason for the Spanish-American war. During that war, elections are 
held in Puerto Rico and this government, which then will represent 
Puerto Rico in Spain with many more powers, is elected.
  On July 25, after the defeat of the Spanish in Cuba, General Nelson 
Miles leads an American landing in Guanica on the southern coast of 
Puerto Rico. On October 18th of that year, San Juan surrenders, and a 
U.S. military government is established in Puerto Rico.
  On December 10, the treaty of Paris is signed and the Spanish-
American War ends, and Puerto Rico is given to the United States, the 
political and civil rights of its inhabitants to be determined by the 
U.S. Congress.
  From then on, Puerto Rico and the United States for a couple of years 
try to figure out what that relationship will be. But through 1899, in 
a few years, a military government continues.
  Nothing really changes until 1900, when a new act is passed here 
which ended the military administration and set up a civil government. 
Very little self-government, however, was granted. The President would 
appoint a Governor, the members of the upper legislative house in 
Puerto Rico, and the executive council, where no Puerto Rican was 
allowed to serve, and the judges of the Supreme Court. Only the House 
of Representatives on the island was wholly elected by the people in 
Puerto Rico, and then it was determined that Puerto Rico would have a 
commissioner who would serve in the House of Representatives with no 
voting status.
  In 1904, Puerto Ricans at that time are not granted U.S. citizenship. 
They become in fact citizens of Puerto Rico. An argument, by the way, 
that continues to be dealt with today, because many people still wonder 
if in imposing American citizenship later, that Puerto Rican 
citizenship in fact was done away with. Everything then is run by the 
United States Congress.

                              {time}  1615

  In 1917, a very important day in the history, on March 2, the Jones 
Act comes into effect, and by it, Congress determines that all Puerto 
Ricans born in Puerto Rico will be American citizens. Since that date, 
everybody born on the island of Puerto Rico is an American citizen. The 
only difference and the most important difference, and perhaps the 
tragic difference, is that if you are born in Puerto Rico you are an 
American citizen and you move to any of the 50 States, you enjoy the 
same rights as any citizen within those 50 States, but if you remain on 
the island of Puerto Rico, still an American citizen, you do not enjoy 
the same rights as the other 50 States.
  That puts into play then the question, what kind of American 
citizenship is it? Is it possible for us to actually have granted 
different kinds of American citizenship, one for those who live within 
the 50 States, and one for those who live outside? To this day, there 
are very bright people arguing that it is impossible to have granted 2 
different kinds, but the effect is that there are 2 different kinds of 
citizenship, and they express themselves differently.
  Nothing then really changes in Puerto Rico until 1950. What happens 
in those years is that a governor is appointed, and there are different 
situations that are created. But during that period of time, an 
independence movement grows, which continues to demand, as it did 
during the period with Spain, that Puerto Rico be liberated and in fact 
be given its independence.
  That independence movement is persecuted heavily, to the point where 
its leader, Pedro Albizu Campos, is a man who is jailed for over 27 
years for advocating for independence of Puerto Rico

[[Page H6425]]

during that time. Also, there are incidents where violent acts are 
committed and force is used both by the government and by citizens.
  At that time also a party grows, various parties grow in Puerto Rico, 
one of them being the Republican Party, a statehood party, an 
independence party, a party that wants to take the present status in 
the 1930s and 1940s and bring it to a new relationship, one that is not 
statehood or independence.
  Finally in the early 1950s it is decided that Congress will offer the 
Puerto Rico community in Puerto Rico something called commonwealth 
status. Commonwealth allows for certain rights to be carried out on the 
island, but commonwealth still does not provide for the ability to vote 
for President, for the ability to vote for 6 or 7 Members of Congress 
as Puerto Rico would be entitled to, or for the ability to vote for 2 
Senators. On the other hand, commonwealth also does not allow for 
Puerto Rico's independence. So I think we have to fully understand, and 
I think the problem that we face these days when we discuss this issue 
and as we celebrate, commemorate, observe or lament over the 100-year 
relationship, tomorrow, July 25, is the fact that such a large number 
of Americans, if not the vast majority, have no idea what the 
relationship is between the United States and Puerto Rico.
  If one goes through any neighborhood in this country and you ask 
people, are you aware that all people who live on the island of Puerto 
Rico are citizens like you, you would be shocked to find a large number 
of people do not have the slightest idea. If you then ask them, do you 
know that Puerto Ricans served in our wars and participated in our wars 
and were drafted just like all other Americans when we had a draft, the 
answer would be no, I did not know that. If you then tell them that 
they were and that they are citizens and they still do not vote for 
President, that would shock anywhere, I would say, from 75, 80, 90 
percent of the American people who are not aware of the relationship. I 
think what will happen tomorrow and throughout the rest of this year is 
more and more people will become aware of the relationship and become 
aware of the need to speak about where the future of that relationship 
should take us.
  Now, let me digress for a second and just set myself up as an example 
of the uniqueness or the embarrassment of that relationship. I was born 
in Puerto Rico. I came to New York, as so many Puerto Ricans did, when 
I was a very young child. I studied in New York, I became involved in 
politics, I served in the State assembly; I then came here in 1990. I 
am a Member of Congress. One cannot really express better fulfillment 
of one's citizenship than what I have accomplished personally, yet my 
cousins who live on the island of Puerto Rico do not have the same 
rights I have, the difference being that I moved and they did not.
  That is almost to suggest that if one stays in Texas or one stays in 
New York, one would have less rights than if one came to California. 
Well, I am sure there are probably some Californians who would like 
Texans and New Yorkers to have less rights, but that is just the way we 
behave in this country. The fact of life is that these folks are there 
with a totally different system of government overseeing them.
  So the commonwealth came in and the commonwealth was set up basically 
to tell the United Nations, I believe, look, we are obeying the rules, 
we are doing what you wanted us to do; we do not have a situation that 
can create a problem for anybody. Puerto Rico is not a colony.
  Now, in order to fully understand how people feel about the different 
status options, one has to understand that in the early 1950s there was 
a strong, and in the 1940s and 1930s, a strong nationalist movement, a 
movement that wanted independence for Puerto Rico, and that movement in 
history will speak to this more and more every day, was discredited, 
both by people here in Washington and people who lent themselves to 
that in Puerto Rico.
  It was suggested somehow that if one wanted independence for Puerto 
Rico, one wanted the worst for the island, one was not a good American, 
one was not a good Puerto Rican, and that was the way people were 
treated. So many of its leadership was jailed. Within a democracy, 
Puerto Rico being an arm of the United States, if you will, is supposed 
to behave in a democratic fashion, and yet to the folks who supported 
independence, they were, many of them were just discredited and many of 
them were jailed.
  In 1952, after the commonwealth issue came in, and by the way, the 
way commonwealth came in was the United States gave the people of 
Puerto Rico a choice: Commonwealth, yes or no. There has never been, 
and we should note this at this moment, there has never been a 
congressionally, federally sponsored vote on the island of Puerto Rico 
which has asked the people of Puerto Rico, do you support independence, 
do you support Statehood, or do you support remaining the way you are 
now, or making changes? There have been different kinds of votes to 
speak to that, but never the full question asked.
  So in the early 1950s, the question was, do you want to become a 
commonwealth, or do you want to remain the kind of territory you are 
now? Yes or no. So, of course, most of the people voted yes to better 
the conditions, because as my friend from Guam, Bob Underwood has said 
at times, there are bad colonies and there are slightly better off 
colonies, and people at that time opted to become I guess a better off 
colony, but still did not have the rights of an independent nation or a 
State. They were allowed to pick their own Constitution, write their 
own Constitution. But get this: Anything in the Constitution had to be 
approved by the Federal Government, and Puerto Rico cannot pass any 
laws that will not be accepted by Congress. If so, then they just 
cannot continue to be as laws in Puerto Rico.

  So for all of these 40 years, 50 years, Puerto Rico has been a 
commonwealth of the United States, and during that time, on many 
occasions, there have been attempts to solve the present status 
dilemma.
  On July 23, 1967, based on the recommendation of the Commission on 
the Status of Puerto Rico, a plebiscite, an election was held, to 
determine which status Puerto Ricans want among commonwealth, Statehood 
or independence. Little more than 66 percent of all registered voters 
participated.
  Now, for us in the States 66 percent is a large turnout, but Puerto 
Rico is a place where 85, 90 percent of the people vote, so when 66 
percent turns out, it means there was kind of dissent on the issue on 
the ballot. The popular Democratic Party which defends commonwealth 
defended commonwealth in the campaign. A problem developed in the 
Republican Party which supported statehood with the old guard saying we 
will not participate and the younger guard saying we will, and then the 
Independence Party abstained from the election at all.
  So basically we had half of the Statehood Party saying we will not 
participate, all of the independence movement saying, it is not a fair 
plebiscite, and only the Commonwealth Party participating, and the 
results indicated just that: Commonwealth received 60 percent of the 
vote, statehood nearly 39, and independence less than 1 percent.
  The statehooders who participated in the plebiscite and went on and 
formed their own party, the new Progressive Party which got the 
governor reelected, and it was the first defeat for the Democratic 
Party in 28 years. By the way, just for clarification, the fact that 
they call themselves Popular Democrats has really nothing to do with 
the Democratic Party in this country, it is just a title.
  In 1970, President Nixon said it is time to do something, let us talk 
about statehood or independence for Puerto Rico, but nothing happened. 
Again, in 1971 the same thing. In 1977, and every year since then there 
has been a discussion as to what the future of Puerto Rico will be. 
Then, finally, this year, for the first time in a long time, and a bill 
was passed here by one of our colleagues, sponsored by one of our 
colleagues on the Republican side, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. 
Young), which would allow the choice between the present commonwealth, 
statehood or independence.
  The bill was supported and is supported by those who support 
statehood; it is supported by those who support independence; it is not 
supported by the Commonwealth Party, because

[[Page H6426]]

they feel that in no way does it really speak to what they wish to be. 
What the bill does is speak to what we are, to what Puerto Rico is, to 
what the relationship is, and therein lies the problem.
  The United States has spent, our country has spent a lot of time and 
a lot of energy basically suggesting to the world what democratic 
principles they should follow, and I think that there is not a single 
person listening or watching us that does not agree that we have a role 
to play in promoting democracy throughout the world.
  I think the big question we have to ask ourselves, and especially the 
younger people in this country who will be around for a long, long time 
have to ask is, is it right for this country on one hand to preach 
democracy throughout the world and on the other hand hold for 100 years 
tomorrow a colony, a territory in the Caribbean. For the Puerto Rican 
community, the pain goes deeper. Before these 100 years which will be 
culminated tomorrow, we spent 405 years with Spain. That is 505 years 
of a colonial status, the longest running colony in the world.
  Now, understand that our government, for the first time in passing 
the bill on the House floor, admitted in legislation, in writing that 
Puerto Rico, in fact, was a territory of the United States. For years 
we have been telling the U.N. that we were something else. No, Puerto 
Rico is a commonwealth that has a special understanding. Look, it is 
very simple. If you do not have the same rights other American citizens 
have, you can call it what you want, it is not a state, it is not an 
independent nation, it is a colony.
  Why should this be important to all Americans? Why should all 
Americans be concerned with this issue? Well, because we have invaded 
Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico did not invade us, so we have to eventually 
come to a conclusion on this subject.
  Secondly, one cannot have nearly 4 million, 3.8 American citizens 
living in Puerto Rico not enjoying the same rights that other Americans 
have.

                              {time}  1630

  So I think the time has come, and perhaps that is what this 
observance will begin tomorrow. For this Congress, for this Senate, for 
the American people, for the American media to become aware of the 
issue and begin to discuss the possibility of finding a solution.
  For this Congressman, the solution is very simple. Either we take 
Puerto Rico in as the 51st State of the Union, or we grant them, work 
with them on attaining full independence.
  I believe, unlike some of my colleagues and unlike some people on the 
island or in the Puerto Rican communities in the United States, I 
believe that the Puerto Rican people on the island are fully equipped, 
talented enough, and intelligent enough to be the 51st State of the 
Union. I also believe that those folks are talented enough, educated 
enough, to be a successful independent Nation.
  What they should not continue to be is a people in limbo. And we 
should not continue to profess to be the safekeepers of democracy and 
democratic principles and allow that situation to exist.
  On many occasions on this House Floor I mix, to the dismay of some of 
my colleagues, I relate the issues of Cuba and Puerto Rico. People say 
what is the relationship? Well, the relationship is very simple. We 
spend a lot of time and energy demanding, quote-unquote, democratic 
changes in Cuba. How will those democratic changes satisfy us? If they 
become the kind of changes which allow for people to vote and deal with 
the issues. That is what we claim.
  Well, the same thing has to happen in Puerto Rico. And tomorrow as 
people observe, lament, or celebrate this relationship, I think it is 
important that we Americans take a step back and analyze what role, if 
any, we want to play in this issue.
  I do not think, in all honesty, that the American educational system 
on this issue has done the job it should do. I know for a fact that not 
enough time is taken, not enough energy is expended, not enough 
resources, if any, are spent on dealing with this issue in our school 
system. To educate young people to the fact that we have this 
situation.
  There are, of course, concerns. Most people in this Congress are 
concentrating on the issue of statehood and they will not move on the 
issue of Puerto Rico because they are dealing with the issue of 
statehood.
  Mr. Speaker, I said a few seconds ago that the issue could be 
independence. It does not have to be statehood. Either way, it has to 
be solved and the problem is that too many people spend too much time 
determining what kind of a state Puerto Rico would be.
  I have two things to say about that. One is if we do not want a state 
that looks and sounds and acts like Puerto Rico, independence is the 
solution. Just do that. But if we are now going to question Puerto 
Ricans to see what kind of good American citizens they would make, it 
might be 100 years too late. After all, not a single Puerto Rican was 
question on the issue of language when he was sent off to World War I, 
World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War. That was never a question. 
Now that has become a question.
  Do Puerto Ricans speak English? Should we have a state where the 
majority of the people do not speak English? I hate to tell my 
colleagues, but there are states in this country where a majority of 
people who do not speak English. They speak an English, but the English 
that they have been speaking for a while now has been badly put 
together.
  We could easily suggest that the time for the relationship has come 
to a point where it is time that we solve it simply by taking an up-or-
down vote, independence or statehood, and not play with anything in 
between, and I mean that.
  This present status is neither here nor there, neither for us or for 
the people who live in Puerto Rico. It is an unfair status for us, 
because we should not have a colony in the Caribbean. And it is an 
unfair status for the people in Puerto Rico, because they should take 
their place in the world as a free Nation or take the place as a State 
of the Union.
  And so I am hopeful, Mr. Speaker, that as we continue to deliberate 
on this issue, and as the news media covers the fact that tomorrow 
there will be everything, as I said, from laments to celebration, from 
joy to sadness, from demonstrations to joyous exuberant demonstrations 
that we will see on TV and in the newspapers. We will see pictures and 
video of people celebrating their citizenship and people questioning 
what kind of citizenship they have. We will see people in Puerto Rico 
and in the New York community and other Puerto Rican communities 
throughout the Nation showing glee at the fact that we have reached 100 
years with the U.S., and we will also see people lamenting the fact 
that we have spent these 100 years in this kind of a condition.
  Mr. Speaker, I think it is important for all Americans to try to 
reach a point. So I would hope that all Americans begin to speak to 
their representatives and to tell them that we have to solve this 
situation. I would hope that within the next few years, Puerto Rico and 
the United States can reach an agreement. An agreement to either bring 
it in as the 51st state, or to grant it independence. Nothing else is 
acceptable.
  The present status is embarrassing to us. It is embarrassing to the 
Puerto Rican people. It is wrong. It is unfair.
  I can think back, and I will close with this, Mr. Speaker. I can 
think back to my father and to my mother. They came to New York from 
Puerto Rico. He, with 2 years of school, and my mother with 6 years of 
school. They came in 1950, and they brought up my brother and me, my 
brother Eli and me.
  They always told us to do everything that good families do. To work 
hard, obey the law, to study, and to be good citizens. But those two 
folks, as much lacking formal education as they were, were always very 
much aware of the fact that there was something wrong with the 
relationship and that they would always tell us that that relationship 
some day had to come to a conclusion.
  They are no longer with me. They were not here on March 28, 1990, 38 
years exactly to the date when they came from Puerto Rico, when I was 
elected to Congress and got sworn in. And, in fact, I held my swearing 
in. I asked then Speaker Foley to swear me

[[Page H6427]]

in a day after I was supposed to, so that I could pay tribute to their 
arrival in New York and their fight to create a community and create a 
family and to celebrate my accomplishment in their honor.
  They always told us that this had to be settled somehow. Tomorrow, as 
we commemorate the 100th year anniversary, I think it behooves the 
United States Congress to move ahead and create a better situation for 
itself and for Puerto Rico. To do anything else would be a shame. To do 
anything else would be an undemocratic act.

                          ____________________