[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15670-15671]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 PUERTO RICO AND THE PRESIDENTIAL VOTE

  (Mr. GRAYSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GRAYSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call on Congress to give 
the people of Puerto Rico the most basic of rights, the right to vote 
for our national leader. In all of the world's democracies, Puerto Rico 
is the largest territory by population that cannot choose our national 
elected official.

[[Page 15671]]

Three-and-a-half million Americans in Puerto Rico have no say in who 
serves as President of the United States.
  Women and African Americans were once denied this basic voting right. 
Now it is American citizens who reside in Puerto Rico who suffer this 
disenfranchisement. The contradictions are painfully clear. Puerto 
Ricans participate in the Presidential primary process, they send 
pledged delegates to each major party's convention, but they do not 
participate directly in the choice of President of the United States.
  If these same American citizens move to the mainland, they can 
quickly and easily help to elect our national leader, but they are 
denied this very basic right to help choose the President and Vice 
President merely for living where they do.
  The solution to this problem is a simple one, and we have 
accomplished it before. Fifty-five years ago, the District of Columbia 
was granted electors to the electoral college with the passage of the 
23rd Amendment to the Constitution. Like Puerto Rico now, the District 
of Columbia was not and is not a State.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. GRAYSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for an additional 
30 seconds.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair cannot entertain that request.
  Mr. GRAYSON. I will simply say we must give Puerto Ricans the right 
to vote for President.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.

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