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SUMMARY OF TESTIMONY OF ZORAIDA FONALLEDAS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEEWOMAN FOR PUERTO RICO, BEFORE THE HOUSE RESOURCES COMMITTEE
ON H.R. 856
"UNITED STATES-PUERTO RICO POLITICAL STATUS ACT" SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO APRIL 19, 1997
Submitted 4-18-97
CHAIRMAN YOUNG, MR. MILLER AND DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS OF CONGRESS:
MY NAME IS ZORAIDA FONALLEDAS. ON BEHALF OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF PUERTO RICO "BIENVENIDOS". I WELCOME YOU TO OUR BEAUTIFUL ISLAND AND APPLAUD THE COMMITTEE’S EFFORTS TO PROVIDE A PROCESS THAT WILL FINALLY GIVE OUR 3.7 MILLION UNITED STATES CITIZENS THE RIGHT TO FREELY DETERMINE THEIR POLITICAL STATUS AND TO RESOLVE THE CENTURY OLD POLITICAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UNITED STATES.
I AM PROUD THAT OUR PARTY’S PLATFORM AND PRESIDENT’S NIXON, FORD, REAGAN AND BUSH HAVE ENDORSED PUERTO RICO STATEHOOD. HR 856 REPRESENTS THE FULFILLMENT OF OUR PARTY’S COMMITMENT TO THIS GOAL.
TODAY I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THREE POINTS ABOUT HR 856.
1-THE STATUS QUO MUST END PUERTO RICO’S STATUS AS AN UNINCORPORATED TERRITORY SUBJECT TO THE CONSTITUTION’S TERRITORIAL CLAUSE MUST BE ENDED BY ESTABLISHING FULL SELF-GOVERNMENT THROUGH EITHER STATEHOOD OR INDEPENDENCE. FOR NEARLY 80 YEARS WE HAVE BEEN UNITED STATES CITIZENS BUT WE HAVE NO VOTE IN CONGRESS OR FOR THE PRESIDENT WHO, AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, HAS SENT OVER 200,000 OF OUR YOUTH INTO BATTLE DEFENDING A CONSTITUTION WHICH THE COURTS HAVE DETERMINED IS NOT FULLY APPLICABLE TO US.
CONGRESS CAN EVEN MAKE LAWS, SOME OF WHICH ARE DISCRIMINATORY, THAT AFFECT OUR DAILY LIVES WITH NO POLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITY TO ANY OF THE ISLAND’S RESIDENTS.
THIS IS INTOLERABLE.
AFTER 400 YEARS OF SPANISH RULE AND A CENTURY OF AMERICAN ADMINISTRATION WE IN PUERTO RICO HAVE EARNED OUR RIGHT TO FIRST CLASS CITIZENSHIP. HR 856 PROVIDES A PROCESS BY WHICH THAT GOAL MAY BE ACHIEVED.
2-AMERICA MUST ADMIT PUERTO TO THE UNION THE UNITED STATES COULD ILL AFFORD NOT TO ADMIT PUERTO RICO TO THE UNION IF STATEHOOD IS CHOSEN, AS I HOPE IT IS, IN 1998.
I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT MONETARY COSTS SINCE STATEHOOD HAS NEVER BEEN A BUSINESS DECISION. AS MY GRANDFATHER SENATE PRESIDENT RAFAEL MARTINEZ-NADAL SAID, "STATEHOOD IS NOT A QUESTION OF DOLLARS AND CENTS BUT OF A DEEP DESIRE FOR LIBERTY."
DENIAL OF PUERTO RICO STATEHOOD WOULD UNDERMINE AMERICA’S CREDIBILITY AS THE WORLD LEADER IN PROMOTING LIBERTY ABROAD AND OUR RELATIONS WITH THE MORE THAN 300 MILLION HISPANICS IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE.
AND AT HOME, POLITICAL SUCCESS IN AMERICA AMONG ITS 27 MILLION HISPANICS, WHOSE NUMBERS WILL DOUBLE BY 2010, WILL GO TO THOSE WHO SEEK TO BE INCLUSIVE OF AMERICA’S LARGEST MINORITY.
WHAT CHANCES WOULD EXIST FOR CANDIDATES IN KEY STATES SUCH AS CALIFORNIA, TEXAS, ARIZONA AND FLORIDA, WHERE THE HISPANIC VOTE IS CRITICAL TO VICTORY, IF CONGRESS FAILS TO RECOGNIZE PUERTO RICO’S CLAIM TO STATEHOOD?
THE ANSWER IS SELF-EVIDENT.
RONALD REAGAN PUT IT BEST WHEN HE SAID, "IN
STATEHOOD, THE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF THE
ISLAND -- RICH IN HISTORY AND TRADITION -- WOULD BE
RESPECTED, FOR IN THE UNITED STATES THE CULTURES
OF THE WORLD LIVE TOGETHER WITH PRIDE." (JANUARY
12, 1982)
3-THE SELF-DETERMINATION PROCESS MUST BE HONEST FINALLY, MR. CHAIRMAN, AS YOU AND CHAIRMEN BURTON, GALLEGLY AND GILMAN WROTE ON FEBRUARY 29, 1996, IN RESPONSE TO THE RESULTS OF THE 1993 PLEBISCITE, "[T]HERE IS A NEED FOR CONGRESS TO DEFINE THE REAL OPTIONS FOR CHANGE AND THE TRUE LEGAL AND POLITICAL NATURE OF THE STATUS QUO, SO THAT THE PEOPLE CAN KNOW WHAT THE ACTUAL CHOICES WILL BE IN THE FUTURE."
THIS YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED IN HR 856. ALL THE STATUS OPTIONS AS DEFINED IN THE BILL ARE CAPABLE OF CONSTITUTIONAL IMPLEMENTATION.
THE STATEHOOD DEFINITION IS A GOOD EXAMPLE. PUERTO RICANS WILL KNOW THAT STATEHOOD WILL MEAN FIRST CLASS UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP, A VOTE FOR PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, GUARANTEED UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP, FULL FUNDING OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS AND THE CONTINUANCE OF BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGES.
THUS, INITIATIVES TO REWRITE THE BILL’S STATUS OPTION DESCRIPTIONS MUST BE RESISTED.
PARTICULARLY EFFORTS IN CONGRESS TO REDEFINE THE STATEHOOD OPTION BY REQUIRING ENGLISH AS PUERTO RICO’S ONLY OFFICIAL LANGUAGE MUST BE VIEWED AS AN ATTEMPT TO COMPROMISE THE SELF-DETERMINATION PROCESS BY FORCING VOTERS TO CHOOSE, REGARDLESS OF CONSTITUTIONALITY, BETWEEN RETAINING SPANISH OR VOTING FOR STATEHOOD.
THE CONSTITUTION ASIDE, WE SHOULD RECOGNIZE IN THIS SHRINKING WORLD THAT BUILDING LINGUISTIC BRIDGES WILL ENRICH THIS NATION.
IN THIS RESPECT, HR 856 WISELY SEEKS TO PROMOTE INCREASED UNDERSTANDING AND USE OF ENGLISH IN PUERTO RICO. A SKILL NOT ONLY NECESSARY TO PARTICIPATE FULLY IN AMERICAN SOCIETY BUT EQUALLY IMPORTANT AS A TOOL FOR COMMERCIAL SUCCESS.
IN CONCLUSION, I ENCOURAGE THE COMMITTEE TO HAVE HR 856 PASSED BY THE FULL HOUSE AS IT NOW STANDS.
PUERTO RICO STANDS AS AN ANOMALY TO THE REST OF THE FREE WORLD, THE MOST POPULOUS COLONY OF DISENFRANCHISED CITIZENS ADMINISTERED BY THE FOREMOST CHAMPION OF DEMOCRACY AND SELF-DETERMINATION.
PUERTO RICO HAS ENDURED HALF A MILLENNIUM OF COLONIAL RULE. PUERTO RICO MUST, IT DEMANDS, THAT IT ENTER THE NEW MILLENNIUM IN FULL CONTROL OF ITS DESTINY AS EITHER A STATE OR AS AN INDEPENDENT NATION.
PASSAGE OF THE UNITED STATES-PUERTO RICO POLITICAL STATUS ACT WILL SERVE AMERICA AND PUERTO RICO WELL, AT HOME AND ABROAD.
THANK YOU.
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