[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 167 (Thursday, November 3, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H7261]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               PUERTO RICO'S ABUSIVE GOVERNMENT PRACTICES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I've come to the floor on several 
occasions this year to denounce the abuses of the current government in 
Puerto Rico and discuss where the government has taken actions to 
suppress dissent and conduct business in secret, cutting the people out 
of the process of governance.
  I've discussed the current regime's push for a dangerous, 
environmentally risky 92-mile natural gas pipeline known locally as the 
``gasoducto''; the violations of civil rights and human rights of 
workers who protested the firing of up to 30,000 government employees; 
closing the legislature to the press and the public and conducting 
their business in secret; the violent treatment of students who opposed 
a steep fee increase, whose protest was broken up with billy clubs and 
pepper spray; the civil rights abuses revealed in the devastating 
report by our own U.S. Department of Justice about the systematic 
abuses by the Puerto Rican Police Department; and the attempt to 
destroy the Puerto Rican Bar Association, one of the most important 
independent organizations of civil society.
  And the reaction in official Puerto Rico to my denunciations here in 
the House is telling as well. The legislature in Puerto Rico, both 
Houses, controlled by the ruling party, approved a joint resolution 
condemning me--not condemning the abusive tactics and oppressive 
practices I denounced, and that the Department of Justice confirmed 
exists--but condemning me for telling you about them.
  Now the effort in Puerto Rico to silence any and all opposition has 
reached a new low. Incredible as it may sound, according to press 
reports published in Puerto Rico, the Vatican sent an official to 
conduct an investigation on allegations of political involvement by the 
archbishop of San Juan, conducted in secrecy until the press got wind 
of it this week.
  While no names have surfaced on who filed an accusation against the 
archbishop, or who was in contact with the Vatican, it is telling that 
the elite of the ruling party has been quick to saturate the airwaves 
and pages of local newspapers with loud public accusations against the 
archbishop.
  Attacking the archbishop is nothing new for the ruling party in 
Puerto Rico. They've done it many times in the past.
  I'm a strong supporter of the democratic principle of separation of 
church and state, but as someone who has spent my life working to 
defend the rights of workers, minorities, working class people and 
immigrants, I have often been joined by people of faith and, 
particularly, leaders of the Catholic Church.
  Just as here on the mainland, in Puerto Rico there is a broad 
religious leadership that has joined with the people as they strive to 
achieve a greater degree of social justice. Among those people is the 
Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez Nieves of San Juan.
  Archbishop Gonzalez Nieves has courageously stepped forward on very 
important issues in Puerto Rico, such as the struggle to achieve peace 
on the island of Vieques, the need to protect civil rights and free 
speech, the freedom of political prisoners, and the just treatment of 
the poor.
  But the one issue that has inflamed the passions of the ruling party 
against the archbishop has been his clear and firm stance on the need 
to reform Puerto Rican identity and the existence of a Puerto Rican 
nation. He has expressed a bold and comprehensive opinion in reference 
to Puerto Rican nationhood. That quote is, ``Motherland nation and 
identity are indivisible gifts of God's love.''
  He's had the temerity to incorporate the Puerto Rican flag into the 
Catholic Church, a Puerto Rican church.

                              {time}  1020

  Mr. Speaker, this is just another instance where the regime, through 
any means necessary, seeks to silence all voices of opposition and 
undermine all independent institutions on the island. Whether they 
initiated the effort to silence the archbishop or whether they're just 
cheering it loudly from the sidelines, the current regime in Puerto 
Rico is repeating its pattern of driving all opposing forces into the 
wilderness.
  Mr. Speaker, I am one voice, and I suspect that the Archbishop 
Gonzalez Nieves is another that cannot be silenced or driven into the 
wilderness.
  I will be going to Puerto Rico this Friday night and trekking to the 
mountains of Adjuntas to meet with the good people of Casa Pueblo this 
Sunday where we will discuss the next steps of the people's opposition 
to the gasoducto gas pipeline project. Interestingly, the archbishop 
also expressed serious concerns about the gasoducto and in June 
participated in a meeting with leaders of the community discussing 
possible actions they could take in case construction of the pipeline 
actually begins.
  I am sure that the regime's attempts in Puerto Rico to suppress the 
will of the people and impose upon them politically driven policies, 
such as the gasoducto, or get the institution of civil society to shut 
up will not be happy to hear what I have to say next week when I arrive 
on the island.

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