[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 41 (Monday, March 2, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H1425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   PROMOTING PUERTO RICO'S STATEHOOD

  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 this date in 
1917, Puerto Ricans became American citizens. Nineteen years after 
coming under the American flag, the Jones-Shafroth Act established that 
residents of Puerto Rico at the time, and their descendants, would be 
citizens of the United States.
  This citizenship has provided us great opportunities for security and 
progress. As such, we have become an integral part of the national 
experience, contributing in numerous fields of education, politics, 
law, science, art, and business; and we have defended this Nation side-
by-side with our fellow citizens from other States.
  We value our American citizenship so much that we included in our 
local constitution that one of our defining values is:

       Our Citizenship of the United States and the aspiration to 
     continue enriching our democratic heritage individually and 
     collectively in the enjoyment of its rights and prerogatives.

  In votes throughout the years, overwhelming majorities of Puerto 
Ricans have affirmed the intention to continue being U.S. citizens.
  Yet, we have been denied that aspiration, denied that enrichment of 
values of American citizenship.
  In 1898, when the U.S. Forces first landed in Puerto Rico, General 
Miles issued a proclamation promising: ``We have come to . . . bring 
you protection . . . to promote your prosperity and bestow upon you the 
immunities and blessings of the . . . institutions of our government.''
  But instead, what happened was that almost right after achieving 
citizenship, a Supreme Court decision, Balzac v. Porto Rico, ruled that 
as residents in an unincorporated territory, we will only have 
partially those rights. That, contrary to what had been the case of 
every other territory before, achieving American citizenship did not 
mean necessarily a road to full equality as a State.
  Since then, our enjoyment of rights shared by our fellow Americans in 
the States has been only in a limited manner, as the Congress and the 
courts see fit to grant them. The promise remains unfulfilled.
  Unfulfilled, in spite of how 220,000 Puerto Ricans have worn this 
country's uniform and fought and bled for our Nation under the orders 
of a Commander in Chief for whom they cannot vote.
  Unfulfilled, when those living in Puerto Rico do not have full and 
equal representation in this Congress that decides how they will be 
ruled, what policies will be applied. As a Representative of almost 3.2 
million American citizens, I am not allowed to vote on the passage of 
legislation that governs their daily lives.
  This allows Puerto Rico to be treated unequally under Federal laws, 
regulations, and programs involving funding, levels of service, 
statistics, even being treated as if we were foreign for some purposes.
  But we are Americans. We are born as U.S. citizens, in soil under the 
American flag, and the largest number of citizens who are 
disenfranchised.
  That is why I continue to promote Puerto Rico's statehood. Our people 
have already decisively voted that the status quo is not acceptable and 
chosen their change. We deserve, we have earned full exercise of the 
dignity, rights, and privileges of our American citizenship, including 
full representation and participation in the political process which 
governs our lives, which is only possible with statehood.
  Our American citizenship has represented 103 years of opportunities, 
but making the most of those opportunities can only happen in full 
equality. It is our right as citizens, and we have waited long enough.

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