U.S. House of Representatives
INY162
Juan Cecilio Miranda Pedrosa
From the Office of Congressman Jose E. Serrano (D-NY)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Overview ………………………………………………………………….. 3
A brief history of the American reluctance to end
the colonial status of Puerto Rico …………………………… 6
History of political treaties and legislation passed
concerning the relationship between the United States
and Puerto Rico 1898-2012……………………………………… 10
Bills presented in Congress regarding the Puerto Rican
Status from the 101st Congress to the 111th Congress…. 17
Index of Legislative Initiatives and Executive Orders Regarding the Ongoing Issue of the Status of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
Overview of Project:
This index is intended as a reference point for the ongoing relationship between the island of Puerto Rico and the United States, re: Puerto Rico’s status as a U.S. territory and its journey toward a definitive political status. There are three options for PR. (1) A sovereign nation, fully independent with a self-sustaining economy and new currency (2) a State of the United States with all rights, duties, privileges, and responsibilities that come with such a status, or (3) a sovereign republic, in a contract of free association with the United States, in which certain ties are maintained and the island is allowed greater discretion in terms of trade agreements. Both sides would reserve the right to terminate the relationship at any time.
The most recent events in Puerto Rico indicate that the people are no longer satisfied by their status as the world’s oldest and last remaining colony in the Western Hemisphere. Analysis of the political history of Puerto Rico shows that for three and a half centuries the residents meekly followed the decrees of far-off Spain and the generals who ruled it as a personal fiefdom. The pattern started to change in the latter half of the 19th Century with leaders like Eugenio Maria de Hostos, Ramón Emeterio Betances, Luis Muñoz Rivera, and José Celso Barbosa, who began to seek a better state of affairs for their homeland, which had been essentially forgotten by the rest of the world. Puerto Rico remained impoverished before these bold men could finally take a stand when, luckily, the United States took over the last holdings of the defeated Spanish Empire in the Americas in 1898, after the Spanish American War. Actually, Spain had no choice in the matter because the U.S. said that if both Cuba and Puerto Rico were not turned over to them, they would occupy their much-closer territory to Spanish waters, the Canary Islands. Since Spain’s navy was in shambles after the war, they capitulated. So disappeared the last vestiges of its vast empire that had known no rival in the modern era. So, a new generation of Puerto Ricans emerged, driven by the winds of change, and sought a better future for their island. No longer under a monarchic system with aristocracy and royalty, they were now part of the land of opportunity and freedom. When American troops landed in Puerto Rico, people went out to cheer for them, instead of running for their arms. No one unsheathed a machete, even when the troops marched to the capital.
By becoming a territory of the United States, Puerto Rico began the long and arduous journey of defining itself as a people, a culture, and an economic entity on the world stage. Puerto Ricans were no longer the obscure denizens of an overlooked island in the Atlantic. They were now American citizens, many recognized internationally as they sought to improve their island. Over time, this has led to the quest to end Puerto Rico’s status as a U.S. territory, tethered like a well-groomed dog on a very short leash. There are three ways that determination of status could potentially turn out. First is statehood, in which the people of Puerto Rico would become full citizens of the most powerful nation in the world. Second is independence, a bold and daring choice which could hopefully transform Puerto Rico into the Singapore of the Atlantic. Third, the most recent and innovative political solution, (which gained surprising support from some Puerto Ricans) free association, through which Puerto Rico would acquire full sovereignty, while maintaining a pact with the U.S. of certain provisions and benefits. This last status option is somewhat volatile, as the pact can be permanently terminated by either party. All three options still remain on the table. The purpose of this index is to catalogue and provide a better understanding of the political history between Puerto Rico and the United States. Often overlooked is the issue of the island’s future as efforts are being made to sweep away the vestiges of colonialism to move on to a newer, fresher, governance. This index is not meant to sway the reader towards any particular status. The purpose is merely to inform and detail the course that the issue has taken since American rule came to the island, so that informed decisions can be made to ensure the best future for Puerto Rico.
A brief history of the American reluctance to end the colonial status of Puerto Rico
The greatest roadblocks to solving the issue of status in Puerto Rico comes not only from the fact that the U.S. has allowed Puerto Ricans of disparate ideas to deal with the future of their own island, but also, not once has Congress passed any legislation through both chambers to decide Puerto Rico’s fate. This is because of the certain advantages of Puerto Rico being a nation born out of an old colonial system, where colonies sought to define themselves and become self-sufficient. This is truly an oxymoron in history, if there ever was one. Notwithstanding the sheer ridiculousness of the matter, there may be justifiable causes for this approach.
To begin with, Puerto Rico is a relatively small island but densely populated. With the exception of the former U.S. protectorate of the Philippines, Puerto Rico’s population exceeds that of even many large states. Thus, as a state it would have more representatives in Congress. This would mean that the rapidly increasing, Democratic-leaning African American/Latino minorities would soon dominate the present, more conservative white majorities in many states. The recent elections in 2012 and 2018 have proven this.
Among other issues that many cite is the Spanish language in Puerto Rico. Conservatives say if Puerto Rico were to be a state, it would have to forfeit its native language. This is ridiculous, for all students are bilingual, studying English from the first to the twelfth grades. This issue has been used to shelve many congressional bills in the House and the Senate before even coming to a vote. A key figure in this approach to the Puerto Rico status issue is Don Young (R-AK), who has presented several bills to solve the status issue, but at a large cost to minority culture. His way to solve it was actually a smokescreen, misrepresenting foreign language usage on the federal level. The goal of Young’s bills was to force minorities to abandon their culture and language in exchange for the right to become full American citizens. These bills were counterproductive because being bilingual today is an advantage, for Spanish is now the second language in global business after English.
Also, other bills that address the issue of status for Puerto Rico were presented to allow the territorial status to be upheld, rather than present the people of Puerto Rico with definitive choices that led away from the territorial status, that has limited true progress. More to the point, Pedro Malavet, (2004) is quoted saying, about the colonial status and its convenience for the United States, that “a colony is easier to use and hide from the public view” and “a colony can be used unlike a state, in that it has no representation, and thus resource allocation can be administered differently than what states require from the federal budget”. The various hearings on all the bill that have been drawn up point to the fact that the political relationship is facing what Malavet calls “a democratic deficit”, like the near feudal relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico.
But perhaps the greatest draw for the United States is that, unlike other states, which have been culturally assimilated after being annexed, Puerto Rico maintains a culture with clear differences from the overall cultural makeup of the United States. Puerto Ricans have a distinct cultural identity but magnified by the difference in language. Thus, if there were a different state with a very different culture from the American culture, conservative opponents fear this could lead to a surge of cultural reawakening within minority groups in the United States that could lead to political unrest. This conservative desire for a homogenous society urging the elimination of many cultural differences distorts the cultural “melting pot”. This is not how the melting pot was meant to work! Different cultures were meant to blend into one mainstream, but not dissolve themselves totally.
Puerto Ricans have shown not only the United States, but the world, that it has a culture that can enrich and compliment the culture of the United States. And Puerto Rican culture has been enriched by American culture and by those immigrants who entered the United States through its shores. A close look at Puerto Rican culture will show that Puerto Ricans have assimilated many American traditions and festivities as well as develop a desire to be an active part of American society. Yet, Puerto Ricans are still denied full rights provided by citizenship and can only attain it by moving to the mainland or the State of Hawaii (which has a considerable amount of Puerto Ricans). This continues to create a hemorrhage of talent from Puerto Rico as its most gifted academic graduates and able work force migrate, seeking full benefits of their citizenship. For this reason many more Puerto Ricans now seek statehood as a solution to end this talent drain. In the 2016 plebiscite, 98% voted for statehood, the largest percentage ever.
Further, those who seek independence also see that if a solid national identity were recognized, not only by the United States but the world, then Puerto Ricans could devote their energies to improving the economic and social status of Puerto Rico, while maintaining relations with, not just the United States, but with all other nations that it chose to trade with, without the constraints of the federal government. Finally, supporters of free association argue that if Puerto Rico were on a true middle ground—between the benefits offered by the United States and full sovereignty through a bilateral agreement—then Puerto Ricans would be more inclined to stay on the island and improve the economy, through use of the American dollar, which will remain the currency. This agreement could be terminated by either party at any time unilaterally. If this occurred, it is estimated that the island will be able to have a strong economy and a stable currency to trade with other nations.
The only agreement point in this debate is that all three formulas call for the end of the colonial status. The people who developed the present status of Puerto Rico remain the most stalwart defenders of the status quo, unable to see beyond the colonial status. This retrograde thinking only serves to champion the outdated political philosophy of Luis Muñoz Marín, the first elected governor, preserving the corpse of a political system that was never meant to las in the first place, even though it was the brainchild of the party’s founder.
Thus, as the status quo of Puerto Rico as a colony persists, the island will remain on a very long and loose leash, but a leash nonetheless, to paraphrase Malavet’s wording. All three options have their strengths and drawbacks, but all have a common purpose: the advancement of Puerto Rico away from a stagnant political situation, the positive effects of whose lifespan ended long ago and now that rot eats away at the economic heart of the people.
History of Political Treaties and Legislation passed concerning the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico 1898-2012
The relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico did not have a peaceful beginning. Puerto Rico came to know the United States when American troops landed on its shores in 1898. Spanish influence ended shortly afterward, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, that ended the Spanish American War. Unlike Puerto Rico, in the Treaty, Cuba was not treated as a colony, but as a protectorate of the U.S., because its people had been fighting for their independence before the war between the United States and Spain broke out. Cuba had already made clear that it wanted to be independent, whereas Puerto Rico had not developed politically and socially to Cuba’s level. The political identity of Puerto Rico had been damaged under the haze of feudalism of its Spanish masters. No one had ever sought anything other than the life they had, at least not until the end of the 19th Century, when visionaries sought to improve island’s stagnant state of ignominy. For the sum of twenty million dollars, the U.S. not only acquired Puerto Rico and Cuba, but also the Philippines in the Pacific, which gave them a stronger foothold in Asia. Puerto Rico became important to the United States as a naval staging point and to this day, the island remains the maritime key to the Americas.
Article II of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, ratified by Spain and the United States on April 11, 1898, stated that Spain ceded its last island territories outside Europe. The Canary Islands were the only ones retained by Spain. Article III put the twenty-million-dollar price tag on Puerto Rico. Article VIII demonstrated that Puerto Rico was truly considered as a piece of strategic real estate for U.S. maritime commerce, which, up to the end of Spanish rule, had never been significant enough to spark socio/economic development on the island.
The first law passed by Congress regarding Puerto Rico was the Foraker Act of 1900. The key points of this law were defined in Section 6, which defined San Juan as the capital of the territory (done without consulting the people, thus demonstrating the continuing of the colonial status). Section 7 granted enough citizenship to Puerto Ricans just enough citizenship to serve in the U.S. military. An interesting note on this law is that Section 11 retired the local currency of Puerto Rico, exchanging it for 40% less than the dollar, at the rate of sixty American cents for every peso. The people were not consulted on this this exchange rate either, thus reinforcing the fact that Puerto Ricans were like bonded serfs to the American nation. The Foraker Act, to this day, grants Congress the power to revoke, unilaterally, the laws of Puerto Rico without consulting the people. It further dictated the titles of officials in government, demanding an oath of allegiance to the United States in order to hold public office. The law also left the executive branch of the Puerto Rican government to be chosen by the United States’ president and Senate, until Puerto Rico drafted its first Constitution in 1950, creating its Constitutional Assembly. With the Constitution’s approval by Congress, the Foraker Act was rendered inoperative for the most part. The provisions that the U.S. Congress could revoke the laws of Puerto Rico remain active to this day, as does their power to end the colonial status unilaterally.
The Jones Act of 1917 was paramount to the political development of Puerto Rico as it established the first Puerto Rican Bill of Rights. The bill repealed duty taxes on Puerto Rican exports, while keeping the internal revenue code mostly unchanged. Lastly, it confirmed the U.S. citizenship for all Puerto Ricans, allowing for a six-month period to opt out of U.S. citizenship. This has not been allowed since.
The path to Puerto Rican status definition would not truly begin until 1950, when the people of Puerto Rico began to exhibit a sense of national identity and a desire for a change in the relationship with the United States. The Puerto Rican people’s passive cattle-like mentality of the previous four centuries was becoming a defined political entity within its American political environment. At the same time, Puerto Rico’s cultural outreach was beginning to escalate thanks to the massive migrations of Puerto Ricans to the mainland, seeking a better life than their homeland could offer them. On July 3, 1950, Congress passed Public Law 600, paving the way for the drafting of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, changing the way the United States referred to the island. Previously, they had called it Porto Rico. This law empowered the people of Puerto Rico to convene a Constitutional Convention in 1952. Following the Convention and the approval of the Constitution by the people, Congress passed Public Law 447 and Joint Resolution 430, giving final approval for the Puerto Rican Constitution. Also, minor changes were made to the Puerto Rico Bill of Rights, among them were rights not included in the federal Constitution, such as (1) the right of every person to receive free elementary and secondary education (2) the right of every person to obtain work (3) the right of every person to a standard of living adequate for health and wellbeing for himself and family, including food, clothing, housing, medical care and necessary social services (4) the right of every person to social protection in the event of unemployment, sickness, old age or disability and (5) the right of mothers and children to special care and assistance. The reason for the previous eliminations of these rights had been that the island’s economy which could not have sustained these provisions. Though President Harry S. Truman praised the Puerto Rican Constitution, it is possible that Congress felt overshadowed by Puerto Rico, as the federal Bill of Rights did not include these rights. They feared that mainland citizens would start to demand the same from the federal government.
In 1953, the United States notified the United Nation that Puerto Rico would no longer be under Article 73 of the U.N. Charter, as the island was now a Commonwealth with an autonomous government, unlike it had previously been under the Jones Act. Full self-governance eludes Puerto Rico to this day, however. To change this, the U.N. would have a hand in the matter as it did in 1960, when it defined the three forms of self-governance that the current non-territorial options Puerto Rico is now considering. The options are full self-governance as an independent nation, sovereignty with free association and full integration with another nation, on equal terms. On September 12, 1978, the U.N. Decolonization Committee determined that in order for Puerto Rico to be removed from Article 73 of the U.N. Charter, it must choose one of these three options laid out by the U.N.
The issue of Puerto Rico being the property of the United States Congress was driven home in 1980, when the Supreme Court ruled that the island is still the “property” of Congress. This made it abundantly clear what the relationship between both the United States and Puerto Rico truly was and the need to address it. The issue had been studied as early as 1966, when the United States-Puerto Rico Commission on the Status of Puerto Rico convened to lay out a road map for Puerto Rico’s political future. The panel was made up of leaders from all the main Puerto Rican political parties, each supporting one of the formulas for status definition, including the present territorial status. There are various reasons the Commission could not reach a decision, among them is the fact that members were not secure in their positions, as some were removed and others resigned, feeling the process was rigged to fail from the start. So, they refused to be part of a mockery of democracy. The main reason that Puerto Rican status was not resolved ultimately is that Congress took no action and never presented a bill to the President, that would bind the federal government to act upon a vote by the people of Puerto Rico to determine a non-territorial solution to the “Unfinished Business of American Democracy”, to use the title of the book by former Governor Pedro J. Rossello-González,, which eloquently describes the democratic deficit, earlier defined by Pedro Malavet.
The final recommendation by the Commission was that it should be Puerto Rico’s people who decide the ultimate fate of Puerto Rico through referenda and a possible Constitutional Convention, to finally solve the status issue. But statehood supporters have been against the idea of a Convention, believing a plebiscite, or referenda, would adequately push Congress.
In 1970, President Richard M. Nixon created the first Ad-Hoc Advisory Group to study the matter of Puerto Rico’s status. The group recommended that, even though it is a territory, Puerto Rico should be given voting rights in the presidential elections. Congress rejected the idea outright as only States could participate in presidential elections. Nixon formed a second Ad-Hoc Group in 1973, in collaboration with then Governor Rafael Hernandez Colon, to draft “compact” legislation, which would give more rights to Puerto Rico, despite its territorial status. The project was killed by strong bipartisan opposition because the rights offered to Puerto Rico were exclusive to States or sovereign nations, not to be conferred on territories.
As President Gerald Ford prepared to leave office, on December 31st, 1976, he went against the recommendations of both previous Ad-Hoc Groups and recommended that greater sovereignty be granted to Puerto Rico, with statehood as the most-favored option. President Ford went on to name a commission to evaluate the implications of statehood for Puerto Rico and urged Congress to enact legislation to that end. Congress has yet to respond.
The Carter Administration, with its well-known history of political blunders, undid what Ford had begun. Carter’s administration’s ambivalence allowed Congress to once more sweep Puerto Rico under the proverbial rug. The issue would not come up again until 1992, when President George H. W. Bush once again called on Congress to act on the need for a status definition for Puerto Rico. President Bush urged, via a memorandum to all departments within the federal government, the treatment of Puerto Rico as a state, when allocating resources in the federal budget. The directive remains in force, until Congress enacts legislation to alter the status.
Throughout all these different initiatives, it must be noted that Puerto Rico has not shown much enthusiasm in solving the issue. The remaining effects of feudal mentality hindered the vision of its future of Puerto Rico in the long term. Since then, there have been four plebiscites/referenda that have dealt with the subject of status. Only in the latest plebiscite held on November 26, 2012, Puerto Ricans voted for a change in status. But that vote has been questioned by the party that favors Puerto Rico remaing a territory, in order to maintain and control the current dysfunctional status. Because the previous three votes were all inconclusive, they offer no solution other than to maintain the status quo.
The recent plebiscites conducted in Puerto Rico have not, however, been in any way supported by Congress, as the procedures were carried out without any formal binding agreement between Puerto Rican and federal governments. The Obama Administration declared that the present status should remain but that, if there is no clear decision in a plebiscite, then the federal government should sponsor a referendum, with options that Congress would be committed to fulfilling. Obama further recommended that, by the end of 2012, there should be legislation enacted to that end.
According to the Congressional Research Services, 90 bills have been passed concerning the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico. There have been approximately 23 bills presented to Congress, that have all been shelved because of federal indifference toward the dilemma facing the second-class citizens of Puerto Rico. These people deserve to be full citizens, either of the United States or of their own sovereign nation.
The following is a compilation and summary of the 23 bills relating to Puerto Rico’s status, which have been presented to Congress. Not one of these bills have made it to a president’s desk for evaluation and enactment. Because some of these bills employ the same language, sometimes verbatim, the bills are grouped together, when they repeat themselves.
Bills presented in the 101st Congress:
H.R. 3536- The first bill to decide the status issue in Congress, it offered a choice between statehood, independence, and commonwealth, with a none-of-the-above option included. The bill never made it to a vote.
H.R. 4765- This bill authorized appropriation for a referendum to be held in Puerto Rico on September 16, 1991, or a later date. The difference here is a redefinition of commonwealth on the ballot, and that it proposed to make nonresident Puerto Ricans eligible to decide the issue. The bill was amended twice before clearing the House, but shelved in the Senate, after being put on calendar and never voted on.
S. 710, 711, 712- These three bills presented in the Senate were meant to change the definition of commonwealth for Puerto Rico. These bills never made it to a vote on the Senate floor.
102nd Congress:
H.R. 316 – This is a reintroduction of H.R. 4675, verbatim.
S. 244 – A reintroduction of S. 710, 711, and 712, verbatim.
103rd Congress:
H. Con. Res. 94 – This is a statement made by Puerto Rican-born New York Congressman Jose E. Serrano, the first Puerto Rican Congressman to speak of the issue of Puerto Rico’s status in the congressional forum, as a voting member of Congress, as opposed to the Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner, who has no vote. In his Resolution, Congress joined Rep. Serrano in affirming the Puerto Rican people’s right to self-determination through democratic procedures.
104th Congress:
H. Con. Res. 11 – A reaffirmation by Congressman Serrano of Congress’s responsibility to Puerto Rico.
109th Congress:
H.R 4867 – This is the first bill presented by Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner, Luis G. Fortuño. The bill maintained the territorial status option available, due to pressure from the pro-Commonwealth supporters on the island, along with the three recognized options of self-government defined by the United Nations Charter. The bill further provided procedures to follow for every possible outcome.
S. 2661 – This bill is the Senate submission of H.R. 4867, word for word.
110th Congress:
H.R. 900 – This bill is an expansion of H.R. 4867, as it defines two options, where a non-territorial option would be the winner in a referendum on status. The options are: (1) A Constitutional Convention to determine the status option and (2) a plebiscite to carry the will of Puerto Rico to Congress.
H.R. 1230 – This bill submitted by Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) went further by proposing an enhanced Commonwealth option or a new commonwealth option, along with the three options recognized by the U.N., and establishes the procedures for transition to the newly defined status of Puerto Rico in its relationship with the United States.
S. 1936 – This bill directed the Puerto Rico State Electoral Commission to conduct a plebiscite on the status of the island. The present status was to be included in the vote, as well as the three self-governance options endorsed by the U.N.
111th Congress:
H.R. 2499 – The most recent bill on Puerto Rico’s status, presented by Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi. This is the most comprehensive bill, as it (1) calls for a plebiscite to be held every eight years in the event that the territorial status is maintained (2) conducts a plebiscite if and when the present territorial status is rejected, and (3) that said plebiscite contain the three options endorsed by the U.N. Charter, along with a second consideration for the territorial status. The bill further orders that adequate information be provided to the electorate on the implications of each option, independence, or free association, in social, economic and political terms.
None of these measures have ever been agreed upon by both, the Senate and the House. Thus, while Puerto Rico has conducted four plebiscites, none has been binding on the federal government.
It is the author’s earnest desire to see this issue resolved as quickly as possible, as the present territorial status is eating away at Puerto Rico’s soul, as its children migrate to the mainland in search of the American Dream that has been so elusive. Puerto Ricans hope for a rapid solution that will benefit all citizens. What can not be allowed is the limbo Puerto Rico now faces as a colony.
JUAN CECILIO MIRANDA 
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