PRINTER'S NO. 2850
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
636
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY CRUZ, VAZQUEZ, DONATUCCI, SCHWEYER, GODSHALL,
CALTAGIRONE, THOMAS, KINSEY, V. BROWN, J. HARRIS AND
D. COSTA, DECEMBER 29, 2017
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, DECEMBER 29, 2017
A RESOLUTION
Urging the Congress of the United States to recognize and act
upon the results of the June 11, 2017, Puerto Rican
plebiscite.
WHEREAS, The Constitution of the United States recognizes
states, the District of Columbia, Indian Tribes and territories
as four distinct forms of political status within the United
States; and
WHEREAS, Clause 2 of section 3 of Article IV of the
Constitution of the United States, known as the Territorial
Clause, confers on Congress the power to govern territories in
local and national matters; and
WHEREAS, The United States currently has 16 territories
beyond the 50 states, including Puerto Rico, Guam, the United
States Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands and American
Samoa, which are the only territories that are inhabited; and
WHEREAS, Of the five inhabited territories, Puerto Rico is
the largest, most populated and closest to the United States
mainland; and
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
WHEREAS, Approximately 3.5 million people live in Puerto Rico
and another 5 million Puerto Ricans live on the United States
mainland, including almost 424,000 living in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, Puerto Rico became a territory in 1898 through the
Treaty of Paris after the United States defeated Spain in the
Spanish-American War; and
WHEREAS, In 1900, Congress passed the Foraker Act to replace
the military government in Puerto Rico with a civilian
government and to establish the Resident Commissioner position
to represent Puerto Rico's interests in Washington as a
nonvoting member of the United States House of Representatives;
and
WHEREAS, Through passage of the Jones Act in 1917, Congress
extended United States citizenship to Puerto Ricans and
established a bill of rights for the island; and
WHEREAS, Congress twice recognized Puerto Rico's authority
over matters of internal governance, first in 1950 through
passage of the Federal Relations Act, and then through its
approval of Puerto Rico's Constitution in 1952; and
WHEREAS, Despite these advanced democratic rights, Puerto
Rico is still a territory under United States authority and
Puerto Ricans cannot vote in presidential elections unless they
move to one of the 50 states; and
WHEREAS, It has been the longstanding policy of the United
States that American citizens of territories such as Puerto Rico
can determine whether the territory should eventually become a
state or a nation; and
WHEREAS, Since 1967, Puerto Rico has held four plebiscites
and one Constitutional Amendment Referendum to determine the
20170HR0636PN2850 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
will of the people regarding the island's political status; and
WHEREAS, Since the 1967 plebiscite, it has become apparent
that Puerto Rico's territorial condition constitutes an
unsustainable status of political subordination; and
WHEREAS, A majority of the voters rejected the continuation
of Puerto Rico's current territorial status in the plebiscite
held in Puerto Rico on November 6, 2012; and
WHEREAS, Under Public Law 113-76 of 2014, Congress responded
to Puerto Rico's 2012 plebiscite by appropriating money to
finance an objective, nonpartisan voter education campaign for a
new plebiscite with options proposed by the Elections Commission
of Puerto Rico that can resolve the question of the territory's
political status and are not in conflict with the Constitution,
laws and policies of the United States as certified by the
Department of Justice; and
WHEREAS, Puerto Rico enacted the Puerto Rico Immediate
Decolonization Act (Act No. 7-2017) on February 15, 2017, in
accordance with Public Law 113-76; and
WHEREAS, The Puerto Rico Immediate Decolonization Act
declared that no United States citizen, including those who
reside in Puerto Rico, deserves to have lesser opportunities,
lesser health services and a lesser quality of life than the
rest of his or her fellow citizens; and
WHEREAS, Article four of the Puerto Rico Immediate
Decolonization Act provides for the requirements of the
Plebiscite for the Immediate Decolonization of Puerto Rico to be
held on Sunday, June 11, 2017; and
WHEREAS, H.R. 260, known as the Puerto Rico Admission Act,
was introduced by Representative Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon,
Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, to enable the admission of
20170HR0636PN2850 - 3 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
the territory of Puerto Rico as a state into the United States;
and
WHEREAS, H.R. 900 was introduced by Representative Luis
Gutierrez, a Democrat from Illinois, to recognize Puerto Rico's
sovereign nationhood under either independence or free
association and to provide for a transition process; therefore
be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the Congress of the United
States to recognize and act upon the results of the June 11,
2017, Puerto Rican plebiscite; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be sent to the
President of the United States, to the presiding officers of
each house of Congress and to each member of Congress from
Pennsylvania.
20170HR0636PN2850 - 4 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15