[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2944 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2944
To enable the people of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to determine
the political status of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 27 (legislative day, September 22), 2023
Mr. Wicker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To enable the people of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to determine
the political status of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Puerto Rico Status
Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
TITLE I--PLEBISCITES
Sec. 101. Initial plebiscite; runoff plebiscite.
Sec. 102. Nonpartisan voter education campaign.
Sec. 103. Oversight.
Sec. 104. Funds for voter education, plebiscites.
TITLE II--TRANSITION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF INDEPENDENCE STATUS
Sec. 201. Definitions.
Sec. 202. Constitutional convention.
Sec. 203. Character of the constitution.
Sec. 204. Submission; ratification.
Sec. 205. Election of officers.
Sec. 206. Conforming amendments to existing law.
Sec. 207. Joint Transition Commission.
Sec. 208. Proclamation by President.
Sec. 209. Legal and constitutional provisions.
Sec. 210. Judicial pronouncements.
Sec. 211. Citizenship and immigration laws after Puerto Rican
independence.
Sec. 212. Individual rights to economic benefits and grants.
TITLE III--TRANSITION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SOVEREIGNTY IN FREE
ASSOCIATION WITH THE UNITED STATES OPTION
Sec. 301. Definitions.
Sec. 302. Constitutional convention.
Sec. 303. Character of the constitution.
Sec. 304. Submission; ratification.
Sec. 305. Election of officers.
Sec. 306. Conforming amendments to existing law.
Sec. 307. Proclamation by President; head of state of the nation Puerto
Rico.
Sec. 308. Legal and constitutional provisions.
Sec. 309. Judicial pronouncements.
Sec. 310. Citizenship and immigration laws after sovereignty through
free association.
Sec. 311. Bilateral Negotiating Commission.
Sec. 312. Articles of free association approval, effective date, and
termination.
Sec. 313. Individual rights to economic benefits and grants.
TITLE IV--TRANSITION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF STATEHOOD STATUS
Sec. 401. Definitions.
Sec. 402. Puerto Rico readiness for statehood; Presidential
proclamation; admission into the Union of
the United States.
Sec. 403. Conforming amendments to existing law.
Sec. 404. Territory and boundaries.
Sec. 405. Constitution.
Sec. 406. Elections of Senators and Representatives; certification;
jurisdiction.
Sec. 407. State title to land and property.
Sec. 408. Continuity of laws, government, and obligations.
Sec. 409. Judicial pronouncements.
TITLE V--TRANSITION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF COMMONWEALTH STATUS
Sec. 501. Bilateral Negotiating Commission.
Sec. 502. Approval; effective date.
TITLE VI--MISCELLANEOUS
Sec. 601. Application of Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and
Economic Stability Act.
Sec. 602. Severability.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) in 1898, the United States gained possession of Puerto
Rico following the Spanish-American War;
(2) Spain formally ceded Puerto Rico to the United States
of America under the Treaty of Peace between the United States
of America and the Kingdom of Spain, signed at Paris on
December 10, 1898 (30 Stat. 1754);
(3) after a brief period of military rule, the Act of April
12, 1900 (commonly known as the ``Foraker Act'') (31 Stat. 77,
chapter 191), was enacted to establish a civil government in
Puerto Rico, which--
(A) provided for--
(i) an executive branch headed by a
Governor and an executive council, to be
appointed by the President, with the advice and
consent of the Senate; and
(ii) a house of delegates, to be elected by
qualified voters of Puerto Rico; and
(B) was replaced in 1917 by a new organic Act for
Puerto, the Act of March 2, 1917 (commonly known as the
``Jones-Shafroth Act'') (39 Stat. 951, chapter 145),
which--
(i) established an elected Senate;
(ii) provided a bill of rights;
(iii) provided United States citizenship to
the people of Puerto Rico; and
(iv) in 1947, was amended to give qualified
voters of Puerto Rico the right to elect a
Governor;
(4) in 1950, Congress enacted the Act of July 3, 1950
(commonly known as the ``Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of
1950'') (64 Stat. 319, chapter 446), which--
(A) established that, ``fully recognizing the
principle of government by consent'', the law was
``adopted in the nature of a compact so that the people
of Puerto Rico may organize a government pursuant to a
constitution of their own adoption''; and
(B) on approval by the qualified voters of Puerto
Rico in a referendum, authorized the Puerto Rico
legislature to call a constitutional convention to
draft a constitution for Puerto Rico;
(5) in a popular referendum held on June 4, 1951, 76.5
percent of the voters in Puerto Rico voted in favor of drafting
a constitution for Puerto Rico;
(6) during the period beginning on September 17, 1951, and
ending on February 6, 1952, a constitutional convention was
held in Puerto Rico;
(7) the constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
produced by the constitutional convention was submitted to the
people of Puerto Rico, who approved the constitution with 81.9
percent of the vote in a referendum held on March 3, 1952;
(8) after receiving the constitution of the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, the President--
(A) declared that the constitution of the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico--
(i) conformed fully with the applicable
provisions of--
(I) the Act of July 3, 1950
(commonly known as the ``Puerto Rico
Federal Relations Act of 1950'') (64
Stat. 319, chapter 446); and
(II) the Constitution of the United
States;
(ii) contained a bill of rights; and
(iii) provided for a republican form of
government; and
(B) transmitted the constitution of the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to Congress for approval;
(9) after receiving the constitution of the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico from the President, Congress--
(A) considered the constitution of the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico;
(B) found the constitution of the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico to conform to the applicable requirements;
and
(C) with the approval of the Joint Resolution of
July 3, 1952 (66 Stat. 327, chapter 567), conditionally
approved the constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico;
(10) under Resolution number 34 of the constitutional
convention of Puerto Rico, the constitutional convention of
Puerto Rico accepted the conditions of Congress ``in the name
of the people of Puerto Rico'';
(11) the Governor of Puerto Rico subsequently issued a
formal proclamation accepting the conditions of Congress on the
constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;
(12) the constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico--
(A) was subsequently amended by the constitutional
convention; and
(B) became effective on July 25, 1952;
(13) the amendments to the constitution of the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico were ratified by the people of the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, with 87.8 percent of voters approving the
constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in a referendum
held on November 4, 1952;
(14) the United States informed the United Nations that,
because the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico had become a self-
governing jurisdiction, the United States would cease reporting
on conditions in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico under article
73 of the United Nations Charter, which requires reports from
member states responsible ``for the administration of
territories whose people have not yet attained the full measure
of self-government.'';
(15) in response to the United States, the United Nations
General Assembly acknowledged in United Nations General
Assembly Resolution 748 (1953) that ``the people of the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, by expressing their will in a free
and democratic way, have achieved a new constitutional status
and have effectively exercised their right to self-
determination'';
(16) to bilaterally address the issue of Puerto Rico self-
determination, Public Law 88-271 (78 Stat. 17) established the
United States-Puerto Rico Commission on the Status of Puerto
Rico, composed of--
(A) 7 members from the United States, of whom--
(i) 3 members were to be appointed by the
President;
(ii) 2 members were to be members of the
Senate, appointed by the President of the
Senate with the approval of the majority and
minority leaders of the Senate; and
(iii) 2 members were to be members of the
House of Representatives appointed by the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, with
the approval of the majority and minority
leaders of the House of Representatives; and
(B) 6 members were to be from the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico;
(17) in the report entitled ``Report of the United States-
Puerto Rico Commission on the Status of Puerto Rico'' and dated
August 1966, the United States-Puerto Rico Commission on the
Status of Puerto Rico found that--
(A) ``all three forms of political status--the
Commonwealth, Statehood, and Independence--are valid
and confer upon the people of Puerto Rico equal dignity
with equality of status and national citizenship.'';
and
(B) ``it is inconceivable that either the United
States or Puerto Rico would, by an act of unilateral
revocation, undermine the very foundation of their
common progress: the fundamental political and economic
relationships which were established on the basis of
mutuality.'';
(18) pursuant to the findings and recommendations of the
United States-Puerto Rico Commission on the Status of Puerto
Rico, the Puerto Rico legislature enacted the Act of December
23, 1966 (Puerto Rico Act No. 1), which called for a plebiscite
on the status of Puerto Rico;
(19) in the July 23, 1967, plebiscite--
(A) 60.4 percent of voters in the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico voted for commonwealth status;
(B) 39 percent of voters in the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico voted for statehood; and
(C) 0.6 percent of voters in the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico voted for independence;
(20) in 1989, on the joint request of the pro-Commonwealth
Governor of Puerto Rico and the presidents of the pro-statehood
and pro-independence parties, the Senate took up the issue of
Puerto Rico self-determination through S. 712 (101st Congress)
and S. 244 (102nd Congress), which recognized that
Commonwealth, statehood, and independence were valid options
for the status of Puerto Rico;
(21) the failure of the 1989 effort with respect to
statehood and the coming to power in the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico of a pro-statehood government in 1992, 1996, 2008, and
2016 prompted a string of locally legislated referenda, with
each subsequent referendum increasingly deviating from Federal
policy, particularly with respect to an effort to undermine the
commonwealth status to the benefit of statehood;
(22) the first referendum was held in 1993, allowing each
of the political parties to provide the definition of the
particular status option, under which--
(A) 48.6 percent of voters in the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico voted for commonwealth status;
(B) 46.3 percent of voters in the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico voted for statehood; and
(C) 4.4 percent of voters in the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico voted for independence;
(23) during a second referendum held in 1998--
(A) the pro-statehood government--
(i) drafted the ballot language for all
status options; and
(ii) identified each status option by
number rather than by name;
(B) in protest for what the pro-Commonwealth party
considered to be an ill-defined Commonwealth option,
the pro-Commonwealth party asked supporters to vote for
``none of the above''; and
(C) the results of the referendum were that--
(i) 50.3 percent of voters in the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico voted for ``none of
the above'';
(ii) 46.5 percent of voters in the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico voted for
statehood;
(iii) 2.5 percent of voters in the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico voted for
independence; and
(iv) 0.3 percent of voters in the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico voted for free
association;
(24) on May 29, 2009, pro-statehood Resident Commissioner
Pedro Pierluisi introduced a bill in the House of
Representatives, H.R. 2499 (111th Congress), which provided
for--
(A) a 2-round vote on the status of the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that provided for a first
vote to ``continue to have its present form of
political status'' or for ``a different political
status''; and
(B) if the ``different political status'' option
received the most votes during the first vote, a second
vote with the options of--
(i) independence;
(ii) sovereignty in association with the
United States; and
(iii) statehood;
(25) an amendment to H.R. 2499 (111th Congress) was
approved by the House of Representatives on April 29, 2010, to
include the Commonwealth option on the second vote, with the
proponent of the amendment stating that ``Puerto Ricans' views
should be given equal and fair consideration.'';
(26) H.R. 2499 (111th Congress), as amended, was approved
by the House of Representatives, but was not considered in the
Senate;
(27) in April 2011, the White House published a report of
the Task Force on Puerto Rico Status that found that--
(A) the permissible status options for the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico include--
(i) statehood;
(ii) independence;
(iii) free association; and
(iv) commonwealth status; and
(B) ``removing the Commonwealth option would raise
real questions about the vote's legitimacy'';
(28) ignoring the amendment to H.R. 2499 (111th Congress)
described in paragraph (25), the pro-statehood government
called for a locally legislated plebiscite in 2012 that adopted
the 2-vote structure rejected by the House of Representatives
that excluded the Commonwealth option in the second vote;
(29) to further stack the deck in the 2012 plebiscite--
(A) the first vote would be in favor or against the
``current territorial status'' (a generic term intended
to downplay the constitutional process of the Act of
July 3, 1950 (commonly known as the ``Puerto Rico
Federal Relations Act of 1950'') (64 Stat. 319, chapter
446)); and
(B) a second vote would be for--
(i) statehood;
(ii) independence; or
(iii) free association (which was
confusingly referred to as ``sovereign
Commonwealth'');
(30) the voting structure in the 2012 plebiscite had
several evident defects, including that--
(A) the current commonwealth status could lose even
if commonwealth status had the highest voter
preference; and
(B) by instructing individuals who voted for the
current commonwealth status