[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3370]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          EQUALITY FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS LIVING IN PUERTO RICO

  (Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute.)
  Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico. Mr. Speaker, I was elected to 
seek equality for 3.4 million American citizens living in Puerto Rico. 
I am the sole Representative for the island, and I represent more 
constituents in my sole district than anyone in this House.
  I rise today to honor the 100th anniversary of the enactment of the 
Jones Act, which conferred American citizenship on Puerto Ricans on 
this day in 1917. Since then, more than 200,000 veterans have served 
proudly in the U.S. military, where they are equal in war but not in 
peace.
  That is why I stand with the will of the people of Puerto Rico to 
incorporate to the United States as the 51st State of the Union, as 
requested in the 2012 plebiscite by 61 percent of the votes.
  Let this House fulfill the promise that the United States of America 
is a nation of liberty and justice for all of us.

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