[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 24008-24009]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     COMMENDING SECRETARY POWELL AND STATE DEPARTMENT ON MANAGING 
       INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS FOR U.S. TERRITORIES

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, as our colleagues on the Senate Energy and 
Natural Resources Committee will attest, it takes years of experience 
to understand some of the nuances of Federal law and policy applicable 
in American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands and 
the U.S. Virgin Islands. Yet, our current Secretary of State has shown 
remarkable knowledge of the sometimes complex issues arising from 
official international activities of local territorial governments.
  In responding to international issues arising from Federal-
territorial relations in the case of Puerto Rico, Secretary Powell has 
articulated sound principles that are relevant to Federal policy with 
respect to the other territories as well. Specifically, the record 
should reflect the success of measures adopted by the Department of 
State to ensure that local government officials in the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico do not take official actions inconsistent with the 
reservation of foreign relations powers to the federal government under 
the U.S. Constitution.
  The Department of State has tried to show flexibility and include 
territories in international programs and activities when appropriate, 
as it does in the case of other domestic political subdivisions. 
However, Department of State oversight and regulation of all official 
international activities by local territorial governments is necessary 
to preserve the constitutional allocation of powers within the U.S. 
Federal system, especially as it relates to administration of 
territories with a political status defined by Federal statute rather 
than the U.S. Constitution itself. In the case of Puerto Rico, Federal 
authority in all official international matters is consistent with the 
Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act (64 State. 319), and required by the 
status of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as a territory subject to the 
authority of Congress under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 of the U.S. 
Constitution. All powers of the local government remain subject to the 
supremacy of Federal law.
  The Department of State acted in the national interest and in the 
best long-term interest of our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico by not 
acquiescing in actions by U.S. citizen officials of the local 
government seeking international recognition and treatment for Puerto 
Rico that are reserved for sovereign nations. The Department must 
continue to adhere to the simple rule that the Commonwealth should not 
be permitted to act officially in the international sphere in a manner 
that would not be permitted for other political subdivisions, whether 
State, county, city or territorial, unless otherwise specifically 
provided by Congress.
  By confirming the correct application of Federal law and policy in 
his cable to our embassies, Secretary Powell has given diplomatic 
expression to the principles of federalism that apply to Puerto Rico 
and other U.S. territories. This ``Powell Doctrine'', if you will, ends 
the ambivalence and ambiguity that have existed about these issues for 
too long. The Secretary of State applied the correct legal doctrine in 
these matters, based on the principle that the Federal Government 
conducts the foreign policy of the United States and all its citizens, 
which includes the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico under its current 
status.
  The actions taken by the Department of State in this matter do not 
affect the process of self-determination as to the ultimate political 
status of Puerto Rico. Rather, this is a matter of confirming and in a 
proper manner implementing Federal powers and responsibilities beyond 
the realm of local politics regarding the status of the territory, 
until informed self-determination recognized under Federal law and 
policy leads to status resolution. Of course, neither local government 
powers nor the terms for political status resolution can be determined 
unilaterally by local law or political processes, because in each case 
Federal law is supreme and only changes in Federal law can change the 
status or define the extent that local governments can exercise 
sovereignty as to local matters.
  For making these realities clear, and doing so in an impartial and 
entirely fair way, it is appropriate to commend

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our Secretary of State and the men and women of the U.S. State 
Department.

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