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105th Congress: The Puerto Rico Self-Determination Congress
"Really what this is about is taking that fundamental
American principle [of self-determination] which we are eager to apply around
the world and applying it to 4 million American citizens who live on . .
. Puerto Rico, who served and died in defense of America's freedom in disproportionate
numbers. They deserve the right to become fully free, determine their destiny,
participate fully, if they choose and how they choose, in our democracy."
-Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) |
Albuquerque Journal, Allentown Morning Call, Anchorage
Daily News, The Boston Globe, Buffalo News, Chicago Tribune, The Clarion-Ledger,
Denver Post, The Florida Times-Union, The Grand Rapids Press, The Hartford
Courant, Intelligencer Journal, The Miami Herald, National Association of
Hispanic Publications, Newsday, The New York Times, Orlando Sentinel, Philadelphia
Daily News, The Plain Dealer, Portland Oregonian, Portland Press Herald,
The Post-Standard, The Press-Enterprise, The Providence Sunday Journal,
San Antonio Express-News, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Star-Ledger,
St. Petersburg Times, The Sun Herald, Sun-Sentinel, The Tampa Tribune, The
Tennessean, Times Union, The Washington Post, York Daily Record
Never again are the people of Puerto Rico going to be
purposely deprived (for political or ideological reasons of any local party
in power) of their absolute right, should they individually choose to exercise
it, of a good English language education. -Arturo Guzman
"The Federal government needs to know if it is
subsidizing an education system in which the students of Puerto Rico, who
want greater access to English language education, are being denied the
opportunity." - Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN), The English Empowerment Act,
H.R. 4766
Federal taxation could be imposed on commonwealth under
legislation introduced in Congress requiring the Treasury Department to
report on Federal Program costs to the island. H.R. 4769
[I]t is possible to show that in 1994, the average Puerto
Rican had an income of almost $6,000 less than the one he would have received,
had the Puerto Rican economy converged to Mississippi, the poorest state
in the Union. Accumulating this loss from 1955 to 1994 implies that each
Puerto Rican could have been $110,000 wealthier by 1994
UNITED STATES - The independence option for Puerto Rico...poses
enormous potential risks...and possibly significant bail-out costs in the
event of political or economic crisis.
PUERTO RICO - [As] a result of normal investor behavior
and the aspirations and needs of its citizens, the costs of independence
would be staggering.
[It] is quite understandable that Puerto Ricans seek
to preserve a cultural sense of identity. In this regard, it should be noted
that under commonwealth status Congress has greater discretion to regulate
Puerto Rico's affairs by federal law (e.g., current or additional English
language requirements) than if Puerto Rico was a state or independent nation.
If U.S. national sovereignty continues, only as a state would Puerto Rico
have permanent 10th Amendment powers over its non-federal affairs, as well
as voting power in Congress -Dick Thornburgh
It is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) the Senate supports and recognizes the right of United
States citizens residing in Puerto Rico to express democratically their
views regarding their future political status through a referendum or other
public forum, and to communicate those views to the President and Congress;
and
(2) the Federal Government should review any such communication.
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Instead of completing the integration process through
full incorporation and statehood, either independence or free association
would "dis-integrate" Puerto Rico from the United States. This
would terminate U.S. sovereignty, nationality and citizenship and end application
of the U.S. Constitution in Puerto Rico. Consequently, there can be no permanent
mass dual nationality because this would be inconsistent with the preservation
of the underlying separate sovereignty. -Ambassador Fred M. Zeder II
When Hurricane Georges demolished thousands of Puerto
Rican homes, it also handed supporters of statehood a valuable gift: a chance
to prove that it pays handsomely to be part of the United States.
The internal churning in the PDP only strengthens the
NPP's hand against the "None of the Above" vote in the plebiscite.
Hardcore statehooders see the Dec. 13 vote as a way of accelerating history
by surpassing the magical 50 percent margin. They are confident because
the PDP is off-balance, and they are also confident because they believe
the passage of Hurricane Georges will boost their stock...[T]he message
will be crystal clear: permanent union under statehood ensures the strong
assistance of the United States in times of natural catastrophe; separatist
options, including "None of the Above", will jeopardize that valuable
relationship. -Robert Becker
"I can assure you that the large mass of people
who are militants of the Popular Democratic Party is integrated by good
Puerto Ricans who have the best interests of Puerto Rico as their goal.
They are people of good faith who have deposited their absolute, and often
blind trust, on leaders who have abused it by making erroneous and false
representations of the political-economical relationship that exists between
the United States and Puerto Rico." -Arturo Guzman
– EXCLUSIVE HERALD WHITE PAPERS –
The record before Congress is now
clear that permanent union and irrevocable U.S. citizenship can not be obtained
through commonwealth, even if it is reformed as proposed in the 1993 commonwealth
definition. Since only statehood provides the constitutionally guaranteed
status and citizenship included in the commonwealth definition, the real
question arising from the 1993 referendum results is how those who voted
for commonwealth with permanent union and irrevocable U.S. citizenship intend
to achieve that result if not through statehood.
"We will be repeating the mistakes
of 1952 if we do not inform the people of Puerto Rico that individual U.S.
citizenship is protected under commonwealth for the individual to whom it
is already granted against arbitrary loss, regulation or restriction, but
that the conferral of U.S. citizenship in the future is discretionary and
could be withdrawn."
Recent Commentary from Puerto
Rico
Miriam Ramirez de Ferrer, Neftali Fuster, Guillermo Moscoso,
Robert Becker
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