Skip to main content

Floor Statement on The Puerto Rico Admission Act of 2018 (HR 6246)

July 11, 2018

Mr. Speaker: On June 27, I was joined by nearly 40 Members of this House in introducing HR 6246, ThePuerto Rico Admission Act of 2018. That number has since grown to almost 50. This truly bipartisan bill sets forth a transition process that would result in the formal admission of Puerto Rico as a State of the Union, on an equal footing and in true permanent union with the other States, no later than January 1st, 2021.

HR 6246 would constitute Congress' long overdue response to the American citizens of Puerto Rico who, twice in the past six years have overwhelmingly – by 97% and 61% margins – expressed their political will to join their fellow American citizens as equals in our Union.

After 120 years under the U.S. flag, and 101 years as American citizens, Puerto Ricans remain disenfranchised and trapped in a second-class status that denies them the same rights and responsibilities as their fellow citizens in the states. Puerto Ricans do not enjoy a democratic form of government at the national level, as they cannot vote for the President and Vice President of the United States and don't have a voting representation in the U.S. Congress that every day passes laws that affect their future. They also lack a democratic form of government at the local level, due to Congress passing PROMESA in 2016, severely limiting the powers of the duly-elected government of the island.

This lack of full participation in the Federal government that enacts the laws and rules that Puerto Ricans live under, combined with the absolute power of the U.S. Congress under Article IV, Section 3, Cause 2 of the Constitution to treat them unequally under those laws has proven a fundamental limitation on the fulfillment of their full potential as a people. The combination of these inequities, which were unmasked and further exacerbated by last year's historic hurricanes, has led to incoherent and arbitrary federal policies that have limited the island's opportunities to maximize its full economic potential.

I am certain that not even one of my stateside colleagues in this Congress would accept a territorial status like Puerto Rico's for their own constituents. It is my hope then, that they will recognize—and respect—that the American citizens in Puerto Rico are no longer willing to accept it either. I also trust that my colleagues will credit the people of Puerto Rico for aspiring to have the first-class citizenship and equality that they have been denied for over a century, with the same rights and responsibilities as their fellow citizens in the states. My constituents may not have a vote in the government that makes their national laws, but they have a voice—and they made that voice heard loud and clear not once, but twice.

Every Member who supports HR 6246 will send a clear message that he or she is standing up for a powerful principle: The people of Puerto Rico are American citizens who have, in war and peace, made countless contributions and greatly enriched the life of this nation for generations. Close to 300,000 of my constituents have served our military and bravely fought in every conflict since the Great War, side-by-side with their fellow American citizens from the states, defending our democratic values all over the world, yet they are denied the right to vote for their Commander in Chief. A disproportionately large number of them have made the ultimate sacrifice in battle. And when they do, their caskets are flown back to this country, draped in an American flag that contains 50 stars, but no star that represents them. Furthermore, those who are fortunate to return to the island and join the ranks of the over 100,000 veterans living in Puerto Rico, encounter a system that discriminates against them and treats them as second-class citizens.

As I hope you will appreciate, it takes a special kind of patriotism to fight for a nation that you love, but that does not treat you equally. A nation that is a champion of democracy and self-determination around the world, yet disregards and denies those very same principles to its own 3.4 million citizens in Puerto Rico. For a nation founded on the principles of democracy and the consent of the governed, how much longer can America sanction a condition in which millions of its own citizens do not have a vote in the government that makes the national laws which affect their daily lives?

Furthermore, because of these long-standing inequities, in the last ten years alone, upwards of 400,000 island residents have relocated to the states in search of better economic opportunities for themselves and their families. This number does not even include the massive exodus of thousands of Puerto Ricans to the U.S. mainland in the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria last year. As American citizens, once in the states they are entitled to full voting rights and equal treatment under the law—rights they were denied in Puerto Rico. How any American with a conscience could support this shameful situation in this day and age is beyond comprehending.

Mr. Speaker, statehood is not only in Puerto Rico's interest, but it is also in the national interest. Statehood will make Puerto Rico stronger and it will make the United States a more perfect union. Never has a U.S. territory had to wait longer than Puerto Rico before either being granted independence or admitted to the Union as a state. Puerto Ricans have voted twice to become a full and equal member of the American family. They have earned the right to be first-class citizens and we in Congress should act expeditiously to implement their democratically-expressed aspiration. The time has come for Congress to live up to its historic responsibility towards 3.4 million of its own citizens. I urge my colleagues' support for this legislation and its prompt consideration.

###