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PRINTER'S NO. 396
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
78
Session of
2019
INTRODUCED BY CRUZ, YOUNGBLOOD, SCHLOSSBERG, HILL-EVANS,
CALTAGIRONE, T. DAVIS, FREEMAN, KINSEY, JAMES AND NEILSON,
FEBRUARY 11, 2019
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019
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, Article 4, Section 3, Clause 2 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
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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
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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 provided for the requirements of the
Plebiscite for the Immediate Decolonization of Puerto Rico that
was held on Sunday, June 11, 2017; and
WHEREAS, Ninety-seven percent of Puerto Ricans who
participated in the referendum voted in favor of statehood; and
WHEREAS, Support for statehood, if that is what the majority
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of Puerto Ricans want, has been promised to Puerto Rico for
decades by politicians, including former Presidents George W.
Bush and Barack Obama; and
WHEREAS, During his presidential campaign, President Donald
Trump promised to support Puerto Rican statehood, although so
far during his presidency he has not made Puerto Rico a
priority, as displayed through his administration's handling of
hurricane disaster relief; and
WHEREAS, Puerto Rico's nonvoting congressional delegates have
introduced multiple bills over the years that would have granted
statehood to Puerto Rico based on the outcome of a vote on the
island, but these bills have never been acted upon; and
WHEREAS, Continued inaction by the incoming 116th Congress is
unacceptable and unethical; 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.
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