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House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	June 9, 2017 03:41 PM
From:	Representative Angel Cruz
To:	All House members
Subject:	Resolution Urging Congress to Recognize and Act upon the Results of the June 11, 2017 Puerto Rican Plebiscite

In the near future, I plan to introduce a resolution urging the Congress of the United States to recognize and act upon the results of the June 11, 2017 Puerto Rican Plebiscite. The United States currently has 16 territories outside of the 50 states, of which only five are inhabited: Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Mariana Islands and American Samoa. Of these five inhabited territories, Puerto Rico, which became a territory in 1898 as a result of the Spanish-American War, is the largest, most populated and closest to the United States mainland. Since Puerto Rico has become a territory, Congress has passed statutes establishing a civilian government and a nonvoting member of the U.S. House of Representatives, extending U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans, creating a bill of rights and approving a constitution for the island. Despite these democratic advancements, Puerto Ricans cannot vote in presidential elections unless they move to one of the 50 states. Puerto Rico has held four plebiscites and one Constitutional Amendment Referendum to determine the will of the people regarding the island’s political status since 1967. A majority of the voters rejected the continuation of Puerto Rico’s current unsustainable territorial status in the most recent plebiscite held on November 6, 2012. Congress responded to the 2012 plebiscite by appropriating dollars for an objective nonpartisan plebiscite with options proposed by the Elections Commission of Puerto Rico and certified as constitutional by the Department of Justice. The new plebiscite for Puerto Rico to decide whether to become a state, a sovereign nation, or keep the status quo is scheduled for Sunday, June 11, 2017. Legislation has already been introduced in Congress to carry out the wishes of the citizens of Puerto Rico: H.R. 260, which would enable the admission of the territory of Puerto Rico as a state into the U.S. and H.R. 900, which would recognize Puerto Rico’s sovereign nationhood under either independence or free association. Please join me in giving a voice to the citizens of Puerto Rico by urging Congress to recognize the June 11 plebiscite. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact my Harrisburg office at 717-705-1925.

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