[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 11, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H6046]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        EQUALITY FOR PUERTO RICO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon) for 5 minutes.
  Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico. Mr. Speaker, on June 27, I was 
joined by more than 40 Members of this House in introducing H.R. 6246, 
the Puerto Rico Admission Act of 2018. That number has since grown to 
almost 50 Members. This is truly a bipartisan bill that sets forth a 
transition process that will result in the formal admission of Puerto 
Rico as a State of the Union, on an equal footing and in true permanent 
union with the rest of the States.
  H.R. 6246 would constitute Congress' long overdue response to the 
citizens of Puerto Rico who, twice in the past 6 years, have 
overwhelmingly voted by 97 percent and 61 percent margins expressing 
their political will to join their fellow Americans as equal in our 
Union.
  After 120 years under the U.S. flag and 101 years as American 
citizens, Puerto Ricans remain disenfranchised and trapped in a second-
class status that denied us the same rights and responsibilities as our 
fellow citizens in the States.
  Puerto Ricans do not enjoy a democratic form of government at the 
national level because we can't vote for the President and the Vice 
President of the United States. We don't have a voting representation 
here in this Congress that every day passes laws that affect us and 
affect our future. That lack of a democratic form of government at the 
local level is due to Congress passing PROMESA in 2016, severely 
limiting the powers of the duly-elected government of the island.
  This lack of full participation in the Federal Government that enacts 
the laws and the rules that Puerto Ricans live under, combined with the 
absolute power of the U.S. Congress under our Article IV, section 3, 
clause 2 of the Constitution to treat us equally under those laws has 
proven to be a fundamental limitation on the fulfillment of our 
potential as a people.
  The combination of these inequities, which were unmasked and further 
exacerbated by last year's historic hurricanes, has led to incoherent 
and arbitrary Federal policies that have limited the island's 
opportunities to maximize our full economic potential.
  I am certain that not even one of my stateside colleagues in this 
Congress would accept a territorial status like Puerto Rico's for their 
own constituents. It is my hope that all of them will recognize and 
respect that the people of Puerto Rico are no longer willing to accept 
it either.
  I also trust that my colleagues will credit Puerto Rico for aspiring 
to have the first-class citizenship and equality they have been denied 
for over a century, with the same rights and responsibilities as their 
fellow citizens in the States.
  My constituents might not have a vote in the government that makes 
their national laws, but they have a voice. They made that voice heard 
loud and clear not just once, but twice.

                              {time}  1030

  Every Member who supports H.R. 6246 will send a clear message that he 
or she is standing up for a powerful principle: that the people of 
Puerto Rico are American citizens who have, in war and peace, made 
countless contributions and greatly enriched the life of this Nation 
for generations.
  More than 250,000 Puerto Ricans have served in our military forces 
and bravely fought in every conflict since the Great War, side by side 
with the citizens of other States, defending our democratic values all 
over the world. Yet, they are denied the right to vote for their 
Commander in Chief.
  A disproportionately large number of them have made the ultimate 
sacrifice in battle. When they do, their caskets are flown back to this 
country, draped in an American flag that contains just 50 stars, but 
none of those represent them and represent Puerto Rico.
  Furthermore, those who are fortunate to return to the island and join 
the ranks of the more than 100,000 veterans living on the island 
encounter a system that discriminates against them and treats them as 
second-class citizens.
  Furthermore, because of these longstanding inequities, in the last 10 
years alone, more than 400,000 Puerto Ricans have relocated to the 
States in the search for equality.
  That is the equality we are looking for in this bill, a truly 
bipartisan bill that will let Puerto Rico become the 51st State of the 
Nation.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in this bill and acknowledge the 
situation in Puerto Rico and let us become first-class U.S. citizens.

                          ____________________