[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11557]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  PUERTO RICO'S TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT

  (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, Puerto Rico's 
territorial constitution is 65 years old today. An act of Congress 
authorized the island's people to pass a charter of the local 
government.
  It did not, however, eliminate Federal authority to govern Puerto 
Rico in local matters. The island's constitution names the territorial 
government a ``freely associated State'' in Spanish, but we are not a 
freely associated State because we are not a sovereign nation.
  Under the U.S. Constitution, Puerto Rico remains subject to a 
territorial clause until it becomes a State. Proof of that power is 
PROMESA, which installed Federal appointees to make final decisions on 
Puerto Rico's fiscal matters.
  The Americans I represent want to exercise self-government in local 
matters once again; but, more importantly, want to fully possess that 
power as the States do.

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