Statement of Joaquín A. Márquez, Esq. Before the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

Statement of
Joaquín A. Márquez, Esq.

Before the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

Full Committee Hearing
The State of the United States Territories

February 9, 2023

Chairman Manchin, Ranking Member Barrasso, and Members of the Committee:
Thank you for holding a hearing on the state of the Territories of the United States and for the
opportunity to once more express my views regarding the state of the Territory of Puerto Rico.
Introduction
My name is Joaquín A. Márquez, and I offer this statement in my personal capacity as an
An American citizen born and raised in Puerto Rico. I am part of the Puerto Rican diaspora, having
moved permanently to Virginia in 1970. Like more than 375,000 other Puerto Ricans, I am a
veteran having served in the United States Army as a special warfare officer in Vietnam where I
was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, among other decorations. From 1970 until 1981, I was
engaged in federal and state public service serving as chief of staff to two Resident
Commissioners, as an attorney advisor to the USAID in Secretary Kissinger’s Department of
State, and as Puerto Rico’s senior non-elected representative heading the Puerto Rico Federal
Affairs Administration. From 1981 to 2015, I was engaged in the private practice of law as a
partner in the Washington, D.C. office of two large, national law firms. I must disclose that I
have always been a staunch supporter of Statehood for Puerto Rico.

The Political State of the Territory of Puerto Rico
The Governor of Puerto Rico, Honorable Pedro Pierluisi, will appear before you today to set
forth the island’s current economic and financial state as well as the progress that his
the administration has made in resolving Puerto Rico’s present economic crisis. I will limit my
remarks today to discuss the real cause for the crisis – it’s status as a colony of the United
States – and what this 118th Congress, especially this Senate, can do to resolve it.
Colonial Background
Puerto Rico has suffered from a colonial status since 1493; first as a colony of Spain for 405
years, and currently, as a colony of the United States for an additional 125 years. As part of the
Spanish-American War, United States troops invaded the island largely unopposed and took
control of its territory in just three weeks with almost no casualties. In fact, the island’s residents
welcomed the American troops with open arms when General Nelson Miles stated that he came
“bearing the banner of freedom” and promised, “to bestow on them the blessings of the liberal
institutions of our government”. December 10, 1898, the date that marks the beginning of

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the long American colonial tutelage that Puerto Rico continues to endure today, Spain ceded
Puerto Rico to the United States.
Origins of the Current Political and Economic Discrimination – The “Plessy Court”
It did not take long for residents of Puerto Rico to become disappointed with their new colonial
overlords. The same United States Supreme Court that in 1896 had established the odious
“separate but equal” doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson, which justified racial segregation, on May
27, 1901, also established in Downes v. Bidwell the equally shameful doctrine of “territorial
incorporation”. The doctrine holds that not all the provisions of the federal Constitution apply to
“unincorporated territories”, such as Puerto Rico, because “unincorporated territories” are not a
part of the United States but merely its property. This doctrine of “territorial incorporation”, in
effect, established the “separate and unequal” political status of Puerto Rico that currently afflicts
the island. Furthermore, those “unincorporated territories” would not be candidates for
Statehood.
These invidious doctrines were based in part on the racial prejudice of some of the Justices who
viewed the newly acquired Puerto Ricans, Filipinos, and Guamanians as “an alien race”, a
“savage people”, and “unfit to govern themselves”. In 1980, the United States Supreme Court
again held that Congress could discriminate against the American citizens of “unincorporated
territories” (Harris v. Rosario). Most recently, on November 10, 2022, the Supreme Court
decided a case (U.S. v. Vaello-Madero), which reaffirmed Downes and once again held that
Congress could discriminate against American citizens residing in Puerto Rico based on
territorial residence. Just as the Supreme Court subsequently overturned Plessy and ended the
racially discriminatory “separate but equal” doctrine in their landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of
Education case, the American citizens of Puerto Rico fervently hope that the Supreme Court will
similarly overturn Downes and its progeny and thereby end the discriminatory “unincorporated
territory” doctrine that has afflicted all American citizens that reside in the territories. It is time
to end the “separate and unequal” colonial status that still stains the soul of our nation.
On March 2, 1917, Congress granted American citizenship to all the residents of Puerto Rico.
Since then, despite multiple efforts and petitions to Congress requesting that the American
citizens residing on the Territory be given the opportunity to exercise their political self-
determination, Congress has disregarded those petitions, and the island and its inhabitants have
remained in political limbo and subject to economic discrimination as an unequal colony of the
United States. As a result, American citizens of Puerto Rico are bereft of the right to have
voting representation in Congress and of the right to vote for President or Vice President in
national elections. Any American citizen that moves from one of the 50 States to Puerto Rico
immediately loses the right to vote for the President or Vice President and the right to elect
Senators or voting Representatives. However, any American citizen of Puerto Rico who desires
to obtain those rights must abandon the island and move to any of the 50 States. This is political
discrimination plain and simple. It sends a clear message to the residents of Puerto Rico that
their American citizenship, simply because of their territorial residence, is less valuable than that
of their fellow American citizens who reside in the 50 States. Furthermore, because their
American citizenship is inferior, they cannot aspire to political and economic equality or to enjoy
the exercise of their full rights of citizenship unless they relocate to any one of the 50 States.

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The Effects of Political and Economic Discrimination
This political discrimination is not limited to suffrage alone; it also applies to the distribution of
federal funds to Puerto Rico and to other Territories and their local jurisdictions. The amount of
federal funds allocated to Puerto Rico and to the other Territories under most federal programs is
capped at amounts that are much lower than the amounts that they would be entitled to receive if
those Territories were States. Thus, Puerto Rico and the other Territories receive a much smaller
share of these federal programs because they are not States. The federal funding levels of many
public assistance programs, such as Medicaid or SNAP, are also substantially lower in the
Territories than in the States. Some key federal assistance programs are not available to the
American citizens residing in the Territories. One such program is Supplementary Security
Income is a lifeline for poor, blind, disabled, and elderly persons. It is not available to
American citizens that are residents of Puerto Rico, although the program is available to
American citizens that reside in each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and even in the
Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands.
Political and economic discrimination has forced the government of Puerto Rico to increase its
unsustainable debt burden by compelling it to borrow large amounts of funds from the national
capital markets to finance infrastructure projects as well as to fund public assistance programs
for those eligible elderly or disabled citizens. Significantly, this political discrimination also
forces those American citizens of Puerto Rico who seek political and economic equality to leave
their homes and families on the island and migrate to different States. In addition, the poor
and disabled are also forced to migrate to the United States mainland to be entitled to benefit
from those federal assistance programs that are enjoyed by their fellow American citizens.
As a result of political and economic discrimination, more than 700,000 residents of the Territory
of Puerto Rico already have migrated in a diaspora to the United States mainland during the past
ten years alone. Most of these migrants are highly educated and constitute the most productive
and entrepreneurial American citizens of Puerto Rico. Like all American citizens on the
mainland, these migrants from Puerto Rico are freely willing to bear their fair share of the
general obligations of citizenship, including the payment of their federal income taxes, in
exchange for the opportunity to exercise their full citizenship rights under the Constitution.
The political and economic discrimination in Puerto Rico also sends a message to the world –
if you are a resident of the island, your American citizenship is inferior to the American
citizenship of your fellow citizens that reside in the 50 States. This is a slap on the face of the
more than 3,200,000 American citizens that remain in Puerto Rico and especially to the 375,000
Puerto Ricans have served in the armed forces of the United States since 1917, including
nine who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. To this day the American
citizens of the Territory of Puerto Rico who volunteer to defend our Nation’s interests in distant
fields of battle, unlike their brethren in the fifty States, cannot vote to elect their Commander-in-
Chief, or any Senators or voting Representatives. This is a shameful state of discrimination
against American citizens residing in Puerto Rico that should not be condoned by this 118th
Congress. This Senate must end this political and economic discrimination by providing the
American citizens on the island with an opportunity to exercise their self-determination.

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Repeated Inaction by the Senate
While the House of Representatives, in a bipartisan manner, has voted three times since 1998, in
favor of legislation providing for a federally sanctioned political status referendum in Puerto
Rico, the Senate has failed to act every time.
On July 14, 1998, during the 105th Congress, nearly a quarter of a century ago, I appeared before
this Committee as President of the Puerto Rican American Foundation, a non-profit, non-
partisan, grass-roots public policy organization dedicated to promoting political and economic
equality for Puerto Rico. I appeared in support of H.R.856, “The United States-Puerto Rico
Political Status Act”, and S.472, its Senate counterpart bill. H.R. 856 was passed on a bipartisan
vote by the House of Representatives on March 4, 1998. It provided for the first congressionally
sponsored status referendum in which the American citizens of Puerto Rico could vote for
Statehood, Independence, or continued Territorial status. Much to the disappointment of the
American citizens of Puerto Rico, the Senate failed to act on the bill, thereby depriving them of
their right to exercise their political self-determination and prolonging the colonial status of the
Territory.
During the 111th Congress a second federally sponsored political status referendum bill for
Puerto Rico was passed by the House of Representatives. H.R. 2499, the “Puerto Rico
Democracy Act of 2010”, was passed by the House on April 29, 2010, with a bipartisan majority
by a recorded vote of 223-169. Unfortunately, the Senate failed to act once again.
During the recently ended 117th Congress, a third bill providing for a federally sponsored
political status referendum for Puerto Rico was again passed by the House of Representatives.
H.R. 8393, the “Puerto Rico Status Act”, was passed by the House on December 15, 2022, with a
bipartisan majority by a recorded vote of 233 to191. The bill provided a plan that would
implement a process of informed political self-determination by the American citizens of Puerto
Rico and the termination of the colonial status that currently afflicts the Territory. The bill also
set forth the procedures that would have to be complied with by Puerto Rico to be admitted as a
State. Once enacted, the bill would authorize the holding of the first federally sponsored and
binding referendum on the island under which the eligible voters on the island would decide
whether to become a State. The process established by the bill was patterned on the process that
was used regarding the admission of Alaska and Hawaii, respectively as the 49 th and 50 th States
of the Union. It provided a straightforward and fair process. Once again, unfortunately, the
Senate failed to act.
Why has the Senate failed to grant the American citizens of Puerto Rico an opportunity to
exercise their constitutional right of self-determination? Is it because they are still viewed as an
“alien race,” a “savage people”, or “unfit to govern themselves”? Is it because some of the same
prejudices that motivated Justice Henry B. Brown and other Justices of the Supreme Court to
adopt Plessy in 1896 and Downes in 1901 are lurking in the Senate? Is it because the Senate
believes that Puerto Rico should remain a discriminated and unequal American colony
forever? Is it because many Senators are insensitive to political and economic discrimination
unless that discrimination affects them or their constituents? Is it because of raw politics – the

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belief by one political party that they would lose control of the Senate if they allowed two new
Senators from Puerto Rico to join that exclusive club? I will remind you that the American
citizens of Puerto Rico have always been very loyal to those who prove their loyalty to them.
Accordingly, you can be sure that those American citizens of Puerto Rico will bestow their
loyalty to the political party that frees them from the bondage of colonialism and grants them an
opportunity to attain political and economic equality. The granting of an opportunity to exercise
self-determination by American citizens in Puerto Rico should not be the exclusive domain of
any one political party. It should be supported by all freedom-loving Senators in this 118th
Congress regardless of party and should be done in furtherance of those democratic values that
our Nation holds so dear. Silence and inaction by this Senate is not an option – the Senate must
act, and act now during this 118th Congress. Inaction would betray the loyalty of 3.2 million
fellow American citizens and, without their consent, condemn them to an undetermined
extension of their current discriminatory colonial status. Let this be the Senate that delivers
freedom from unconsented colonialism to all American citizens of Puerto Rico and fulfills the
implied promise of Statehood when American citizenship was granted. Let this be the Congress
that ends the 125 years of waiting for political and economic equality with our fellow citizens on
the mainland!
Local Referenda
As a reaction to the Congressional failure to enact legislation allowing the American citizens of
Puerto Rico to exercise their political self-determination, the Territory of Puerto Rico has held
three locally sponsored referenda during the past ten years: on November 6, 2012, June 11, 2017,
and November 3, 2020. In the referendum held on November 6, 2012, the people of Puerto Rico
were asked two questions: do you prefer to maintain the current territorial Commonwealth status,
or do you prefer a non-territorial option? If a person voted for a non-territorial option, then the
person was asked to choose a non-territorial option between Statehood, Independence, or Free
Association. The people of Puerto Rico answered the first question by rejecting the current
Commonwealth status by a 54% to 46% vote. They then answered the second question by
voting 61.3% for Statehood, 32.2% for Free Association, and 5.5 for Independence. The voting
turnout was 79% of eligible voters! The results of November 6, 2012, referendum were
incredibly significant for Puerto Rico because, not only did the voters express a clear preference
for Statehood, but their vote also constituted an explicit revocation of Puerto Rico’s consent to
their current colonial political status. By their vote, the American citizens of Puerto Rico sent a
clear message to the United States and to the world that they clearly rejected the island’s current
colonial political status.
The referendum held on June 11, 2017, offered three alternatives: Statehood, Independence/Free
Association, or the current Territorial status. The results were as follows: Statehood 97.13%,
Independence/Free Association is 1.52%, and the Current Territorial Status is 1.35%. Because of a
boycott by several parties supporting the current territorial status and Independence, the voting
turnout was only 23.23% of the eligible voters. As a result, this referendum has lost much of its
significance.
However, the most recent referendum, which was held on November 3, 2020, presented the
voters with a simple question: do you want Puerto Rico to become a State – yes or no? The

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results favored Statehood by 52.52% to 47.48% of the vote. The voting turnout was 54.72% of
eligible voters and there were no boycotts by any of the major political parties. By voting for
Statehood, the American citizens of Puerto Rico once again confirmed their desire to seek
equality with their fellow American citizens on the mainland and again confirmed the
repudiation of their current political status as one of the oldest colonies in the world. The time
has come for this 118th Congress to enact legislation providing for a federally sponsored binding
referendum that would allow the American citizens of Puerto Rico to exercise their full right of
self-determination.
Why The Statehood Movement Has Grown So Much
Statehood has always enjoyed dedicated support in Puerto Rico. When American citizenship
was granted to the island’s residents, people became confident that Puerto Rico would become a
State soon. However, during the decades that followed, because of a policy of benign neglect by
the federal government, the lack of progress in attaining Statehood, and the poor relations
between the presidentially appointed Governors and the local legislature, the electorate began to
favor political autonomy and even independence.
During the 1940s, a combination of factors moved the island towards its current territorial
political status. The Roosevelt Administration’s New Deal injected significant economic
resources into the island, which helped elect a new and more effective local pro-colonial political
leadership. In 1948, President Truman signed into law legislation providing for the popular
election of the island’s governor. Luis Muñoz Marin, a former Independence advocate, was
elected as the first native-born governor. He was committed to the economic development of the
island under an autonomous regime. That was followed in 1952 by the congressional enactment
of legislation approving a constitution for the island and the establishment of the current colonial
status – the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
In addition, special tax incentives were enacted by Congress in the 1960s and 1970s that,
together with local tax exemptions enacted by the island’s government, promoted the attraction
of new industries and enterprises to the island. The colonial administration in Puerto Rico had
adopted a strategy that, in effect, traded the people’s right to full political equality in exchange
for the opportunity to attract to the island many employment-generating manufacturing
enterprises from the mainland. The federal administration agreed with this strategy because, as
part of its Cold War posture, it wanted to create a favorable contrast between democratic Puerto
Rico’s improving capitalist economic system and communist Cuba’s disastrous socialist
economic deterioration. The strategy was successful, and employment was increased
substantially. The strategy was also successful in boosting support for the colonial status. As a
result, at this time support for Statehood waned significantly. Puerto Rico’s first political status
referendum was held on the island on July 23, 1967, and 64% of the voters participated.
Statehood only garnered support from 39% of the voters while the colonial status gained 60%
support. The residents of Puerto Rico appeared to have rejected Statehood for the time being.
However, the special temporary tax and economic incentives that had been granted to the
colonial Territory of Puerto Rico by Congress and the United States Government in the 1970s
only served to mask the intrinsic flaw of that colonial status – the inherent weakness that results

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from the corrosive poisons of colonialism and inequality. Those temporary tax and economic
incentives attracted many Fortune 500 manufacturing companies from the United States,
especially pharmaceuticals, and induced them to establish operations on the island to avail
themselves of the tax benefits. These companies and their local employees, consultants, lawyers,
and other local professionals that provided services to these companies became a particular
politically powerful special interest group whose purpose was to guarantee the preservation of
their tax and economic privileges through the continuation of the colonial Territorial status. This
special interest group protected their pecuniary interests by financially supporting politicians and
parties that promoted the colonial Territorial status and opposed Statehood. They knew that if
Statehood were to be granted, they would lose their tax and economic privileges and so, they
opposed Statehood. The financial support of the parties and politicians that opposed Statehood
by this special interest group was strong enough to delay the push for Statehood for many years.
However, in 1995, concerned about the large loss of federal tax revenues resulting from the
special tax incentives given to Puerto Rico, Congress phased out those special tax incentives
over the following ten years. Once the colonial Territory lost its tax-advantaged status, its
economic base began to shrivel, and Puerto Rico’s economy began its current long descent into
financial and political bankruptcy. A strong, highly educated middle class had been created
during the decades of economic growth and relatively low unemployment brought about by the
special tax incentives enjoyed by the new industries. However, with their economic future in
doubt, many of those well-educated and entrepreneurial Puerto Ricans commenced their diaspora
to the United States mainland in search of economic and political equality. They did not
migrate to Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, or other such socialist countries. They migrated to
Florida, Texas, North and South Carolina, and other similar States that afforded them an
opportunity to exercise the full rights, benefits, and obligations of their American citizenship. At
present, about six million Puerto Ricans live on the United States mainland, and 3.2 million live
in the Territory of Puerto Rico. Those who migrated to the mainland are not afraid to pay their
fair share of Federal and State income taxes or to bear their fair share of our national burdens
and obligations provided they can enjoy the blessings of full political and economic equality.
Other members of the middle class elected to remain in Puerto Rico. Witnessing the true
weakness, inequality, discrimination, and many failures of Puerto Rico’s colonial political status,
most of those who remained on the island soon realized that a change in political status was
essential to their future. Thus, those who chose not to emigrate from Puerto Rico soon wisely
realized that they could enjoy full equality under American citizenship while remaining in Puerto
Rico simply by opting for Statehood. They saw how Alaska and Hawaii prospered once
they were admitted to the Union in 1959. The financial support for the pro-colonial
Commonwealth status and anti-Statehood party dried up and their political fortunes collapsed.
As a result, political support for the current colonial Territory status has disappeared while
support for Statehood has skyrocketed, as evidenced by the referenda discussed earlier.
The United States Congress shares in the tragedy that is unfolding in Puerto Rico. For too long it
has adopted a policy of “benign neglect” toward the island. It has ignored multiple petitions by
the American citizens of the island to address the economic and political inequality that
negatively affects the island. Through my more than a half-century of trudging through the
hallowed halls of Congress seeking support from Congress for the end of political discrimination

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and the granting of political equality for the island, I have seen how supporters of Statehood have
increased on the island from a modest minority to an overwhelming majority. As I pointed out
earlier, support for Statehood has increased from 39% in the first plebiscite held in 1967, to
52.52% in the sixth and most recent plebiscite held in 2020. A significant majority of eligible
voters participated in that plebiscite. This majority vote for Statehood is more remarkable when
you consider that over 700,000 highly educated, productive, and enterprising persons, the typical
Statehood supporters did not vote in that plebiscite because, like me, they had previously voted
with their feet and migrated to the United States mainland seeking the blessings of political and
economic equality. If the island’s voters were to be asked the question: “Do you want to be a
State of the Union” as part of a congressionally sanctioned binding referendum, I am sure the
“yes” votes would win by an even larger margin. As people have become better educated, more
exposed to life in the United States through travel or the medium of television, their eyes have
been opened to the iniquities of inequality. Thousands already have opted for the equality of
opportunity attained through Statehood by voting with their feet and migrating to the mainland –
thus the Puerto Rican diaspora.
The time has come for Congress to remove this colonial blemish from our collective souls by
allowing the American citizens of Puerto Rico to break free from those colonial shackles. Let a
new spirit of freedom and equality provide the spark that will deliver the American citizens of
Puerto Rico from the vestiges of colonial bondage and inequality that have held them back for so
many decades. All American citizens cannot be deemed to be equal while some American
citizens truly remain unequal. This Senate and this 118th Congress must grant the American
citizens of Puerto Rico the opportunity to exercise their right of self-determination and put an
end to this colonial status to which they no longer consent.

Full Political Equality through Statehood is the Preferred Way Forward
When the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States declares: “in Order to form a more
perfect Union”, it makes it clear that the United States is not a finished product; it is still a work in
the process of seeking to attain that “more perfect union”. The work that you undertake regarding the
decolonization of Puerto Rico is but another link in the great chain of events that links our
glorious past to an even more illustrious future. The United States is far better off today because
federal legislators like you had the vision and the courage to continue assembling our great
Republic through a process of political self-determination. The ultimate choice that Puerto Rico
makes is yet to be decided. However, you need not be fearful. If in the exercise of their
political self-determination, the American citizens of Puerto Rico elect to join our national union
of States, future generations shall praise your vision and courage for making possible the many
benefits that will flow to the Union from Puerto Rico’s accession as our 51 st State.
The struggle for full political equality has been a long and arduous struggle for those American
citizens of Puerto Rico who love the United States and treasure its values. They have seen how
other previously unequal American citizens have had to endure long struggles to achieve
equality: women were not granted the right to vote until 1920; African Americans attained the
end of the abhorrent practice of racial segregation in the 1960s; and the gay and lesbian
community has only recently been granted petitioned rights. Puerto Rico’s struggle for equality

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has been long but not futile. From modest beginnings, the struggle for Puerto Rican political
equality and the end to discrimination against Puerto Rico has grown into a powerful rising tide
that has swept the island from one end to the other. This struggle for political equality is
unstoppable. The ongoing diaspora to the mainland is but one manifestation of that struggle for
equality. The majority votes for Statehood in the 2012 and 2020 referenda are another. The
pleas that we are articulating here are also part of that struggle. The American citizens of Puerto
Rico will not stop, will not hesitate, will not falter, and they will not fail in their quest for
political equality.
Puerto Rico Has Revoked Its Consent to Remain a Colony
It has been argued by many, including some in Congress, that Puerto Rico consented to be
a colony when their voters accepted the colonial Commonwealth status that was offered by
Congress in 1952. To those who hold such a view, I must then say that in 2012 and in 2020, in
voting against the continuation of colonial Commonwealth status by an overwhelming margin in
those referenda, Puerto Rico, again through the ballot box, revoked such consent. The United
States now find themselves to be the master of one of the oldest colonies in the world without the
consent of its residents – one hundred twenty-five years and counting! No other territory of                                                                                                The United States has had to endure such a long struggle for equality. How can the United States
preach anti-colonialism in world form when it holds 3.2 million of its citizens in a vile colonial
state against their will? How can the United States aspire to be “a shining city on a hill” when
some of its citizens are not allowed to enter that city? All 32 territories that have petitioned to be
admitted to Statehood have been admitted. The American citizens of Puerto Rico have favorably
voted for Statehood multiple times during the past ten years; they are hereby respectfully
petitioning Congress to grant them an opportunity to finally end their politically discriminatory
colonial status as an “unincorporated territory” and attain their long-sought goal – Statehood.
They have earned the right to petition for equality because of their demonstrated loyalty to the
values set forth in our Nation’s Founding Documents. They have purchased this right with the
ultimate sacrifice made by their sons and daughters – their lives and the blood they have shed in
support of all our Nation’s wars since 1917.
Another argument that has been wielded by opponents of Statehood for the island is that its
residents do not pay federal taxes. That argument is false. Currently, residents of Puerto Rico
pay federal payroll taxes such as Social Security and Medicare taxes just as their counterparts on
the mainland do. Residents of the island who are federal employees or contractors must pay
federal income taxes on that income. Residents of the island must pay federal income taxes on
any income earned outside of Puerto Rico. Residents also pay United States customs duties.
Only income from sources within Puerto Rico generally is exempt from federal income taxes
under Section 933 of the current United States Internal Revenue Code. The United States
Treasury reports that residents of Puerto Rico currently pay more income taxes to the federal
government than five States. If this Congress wants to immediately repeal Section 933 and tax
that income, I for one would not have an objection, but only if that repeal is an integral part of a
transition to Statehood by a date certain within not more than three years. With taxation comes
the right of voting representation, and under such a condition, I am sure that the great majority of
the American citizens of Puerto Rico would agree to the repeal of the currently limited exemption
from federal income taxation that only exempts income from local Puerto Rico sources.

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Statehood Would be Good for Puerto Rico and for the United States
The granting of Statehood would resolve Puerto Rico’s current debilitating political and
economic situation. In one stroke Statehood would send a message to one and all that Puerto
Rico is and will always be an integral and equal part of the Union; with full representation in
Congress and a voice that may not be silenced; with full participation in the benefits of the
Union; with equal obligations and privileges; with the knowledge that one day a child born in a
a small town in Puerto Rico not unlike Farmington, West Virginia, Reading, or Scranton,
Pennsylvania may aspire to the highest offices in the land, including the Senate or the
Presidency. American and foreign investors would be able to invest in the island’s economy
with confidence in the knowledge that United States laws applied by federal courts would always
be there to protect their interests. In addition, a full Puerto Rican congressional delegation
consisting of four or five Representatives and two Senators would ensure that the current
discrimination in the allocation of federal funding would be replaced with parity funding in all
programs, especially those relating to health and welfare. The new State government could
afford to downsize as the federal government assumes more of the functions now carried out by
the former, just as in several States. A smaller State government would require fewer
financial resources to maintain it and would be more affordable.
Perhaps the biggest boon of Statehood for Puerto Rico to both the island and the United States is
the energy that it would bring to the island. Freed from the inequalities of colonial status, instead
of expending all their energies in the age-old political battles over ultimate political status, the
island’s residents would be able to dedicate all their energies to a singular purpose – the
economic development of the island and the well-being of its residents. Statehood would
jumpstart progress for the island, just as it did for Alaska and Hawaii. Tourism, especially from
the United States mainland, is sure to increase as our fellow citizens would flock to visit their
new State and enjoy our Old-World culture and traditional customs. Residents of other States
would feel as comfortable retiring in the State of Puerto Rico as they do in the State of Florida.
Mainland banks would find the island to be a great place to do business and would likely expand
their branch networks to the island, thereby enhancing the local availability of credit.
Uncertainty deters investment. Ending the conundrum of status politics would free the
entrepreneurial spirit of American citizens on the island to develop and grow Puerto Rico’s
economy to levels previously unattained. As conditions on the island improved, we would see a
large portion of the Puerto Rican diaspora return to the island and bring their talents and
resources to join in the development of its economy. As the fears that someday Puerto Rico
could become just another poor Caribbean republic begin to subside, confidence in the island’s
potential by internal and external investors will begin to rise and so will the well-being of its
residents. The dignity and self-respect of American citizens of Puerto Rico would be enhanced
as they finally begin to experience the fruits of equality and the plenary exercise of their
citizenship.
The granting of Statehood to Puerto Rico is good for the United States as well. Admission of the
first Hispanic State to the Union would demonstrate to the world that the United States truly is
committed to equality and diversity. Granting Statehood to Puerto Rico would remove the ugly
stain of colonialism that blemishes our Nation’s honor, which is caused by subjecting some of its

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citizens to discriminatory colonial rule without their consent. It would end the specious charge
that the United States government is anti-Hispanic. After all, at least 63 million Hispanics in the
The United States accounted for 19% of its population in 2020. It would contribute the valuable
Spanish culture characterizes Puerto Rico to our Nation’s rich melting pot. It would serve as
a bridge to our neighbors in this Hemisphere. Statehood would allow the American citizens on
the island to contribute to the coffers of our Nation’s treasury by paying their fair share in federal
taxes on income that currently is exempt from such taxes. It would demonstrate that America
still is a work in process and that Manifest Destiny is alive and well. In short, granting Statehood
to Puerto Rico would be a win-win proposition for both parties and would strengthen the Nation
as a whole.

American Citizenship and the Implied Promise of Statehood – This Senate Must Give the People
of Puerto Rico, an Opportunity to Vote
Puerto Rico’s admission to Statehood would finally redeem the implied promise of Statehood
made to the residents of Puerto Rico when American citizenship was granted to them in 1917.
For too long they have suffered patiently from the discriminatory “separate and unequal”
standard imposed by the same bigoted Supreme Court that imposed the odious “separate but
equal” doctrine that justified the basis of racial segregation. The Downes decision, which denied
equality of citizenship rights to the American citizens of Puerto Rico because of the island’s
political status as an “unincorporated territory”, must be overturned judicially or by this
Congress. This is the reason why the American citizens of Puerto Rico by an overwhelming vote
in 2012 and 2020 revoked their consent to remaining an unincorporated Territory and voted for
Statehood. This is the reason why their struggle for Statehood will not end until they attain
nothing less than full equality with our fellow American citizens on the mainland.
One hundred and six years ago Congress extended statutory American citizenship to all residents
of the island; albeit a truncated second-class citizenship that still condemns Puerto Ricans to
political and economic inequality to this day. And yet, an overwhelming number of Puerto
Ricans dearly cherish their American citizenship because of its implied promise of Statehood,
which they hope will be attained someday soon. How long must the American citizens of Puerto
Rico waits before Congress grants them the opportunity to gain the full rights and obligations of
their citizenship through the exercise of their political self-determination. If this Congress
intends to willfully continue to condemn the American citizens of Puerto Rico to a status of
political and economic inferiority by forcing them to suffer a discriminatory second-class
citizenship and an unconsented colonial political status, then Congress should state its intention
publicly and unequivocally. Otherwise, it should adopt legislation that allows those American
citizens to exercise their right of political self-determination by allowing them the opportunity to
vote for Statehood. This Senate must let the people of Puerto Rico vote.
The great wave of colonialism that swept the world during the 17th through the 19th centuries has
receded into the dark pages of history. Even the formerly disenfranchised people of atavistic
colonial empires have long exercised their right of political self-determination in accordance
with international law and the most cherished principles of the League of Nations and its
successor, the United Nations. And yet, after 125 years of acting as a colonial master, the United

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States, that beacon of freedom, that “shining city on a hill”, continues to deny the right of
political self-determination to its own citizens of Puerto Rico. Mr. Chairman and Members of
this Committee, you must adopt legislation providing for a status referendum and let the
American citizens of Puerto Rico vote freely to end their colonial political status so that the
concept of political self-determination can again truly become the keystone of our democracy
and does not become just a hollow and expeditiously meaningless expression of our diplomacy.
This Senate must let the people of Puerto Rico vote.
How many more times must the American citizens of Puerto Rico come before you to plead for
their right of political self-determination? Must they wait another century? Let the first rays of a
new dawn of freedom and equality begin to break over our America the Beautiful. Can you not
see the ugly stain of colonialism and discrimination that stains the collective soul of our gallant
republic? These same rays are warming in the breasts of Puerto Ricans a new yearning for the
sweet breath of equality that cannot be long contained by a policy of indifference or of “benign
neglect”. No, Mr. Chairman and Members of this Committee, the question before this body is
one of awful moment to our Nation – what is the real meaning of political self-determination to
this Congress? Is it merely a convenient, self-righteous slogan with which to flagellate our
adversaries in China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, North Korea, and other “undemocratic
societies”? Why do we advocate for the worldwide exercise of political self-determination while
denying its exercise to our own American citizens of Puerto Rico? Is political self-determination
available in the United States to all citizens, except those that are poor, weak, and politically
disenfranchised? What manner of Congress is this that would deny the right of political self-
determination to the American citizens of Puerto Rico out of fear that they may opt to seek
equality of rights and obligations under Statehood? Now is the time for this Congress to end the
double standard and decide whether those great democratic principles that have formed the
bedrock of our republican form of government shall be denied to some citizens because they are
perceived to be different. For my own part, I consider this question as nothing less than a
question of political equality versus colonialism. As I stated earlier, all Americans cannot be
deemed to be equal as long as one American remains unequal. Enact legislation providing for a
referendum and let the American citizens of Puerto Rico vote for political equality under our
Constitution. This Senate must let the people of Puerto Rico vote.
You ask, what type of political self-determination do they seek? I submit that they seek
informed political self-determination. Because of Puerto Rico’s current colonial status, any
federal legislation providing for the exercise of the Territory’s political self-determination must
unambiguously set forth the Constitutional procedures that the Territory must follow to validly
implement such political self-determination. Those Constitutional procedures must not be
discriminatory or more onerous than those which have been required for the admission of the
other Territories. In simple English, you are the colonial power; you must tell them what is
acceptable to you, and you must not discriminate. The conditions must be sufficiently clear and
in conformance with our national Constitution and rule of law so that they cannot be
misconstrued by self-serving politicians during the referendum that would soon follow. The
American citizens of Puerto Rico are willing and prepared to accept and fulfill all reasonable
Constitutional procedures or conditions that previously have been required for the admission of
any State. Enact legislation that establishes such a Constitutional procedure and, if enacted by
this Congress, I cannot discern any Constitutional, legal, or political impediment that can keep

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the American citizens of Puerto Rico from opting for Statehood and its long-awaited
concomitant political equality. This Senate must let the people of Puerto Rico vote.
The residents of Puerto Rico seek these rights not by force of arms or through violent protest.
They are not illegal aliens seeking to break immigration laws; they are and have always been
loyal American citizens for 106 years. They are seeking the right to exercise their political self-
determination just as thirty-two other American territories have done before. As loyal American
citizens, they seek redress by Congress through the pursuit of reason and in reliance on the moral
imperative of their position. They seek the redress of their grievances from Congress because, as
American citizens, our National Constitution grants them that right. Because they wish to be
equal with our fellow citizens of the fifty States and because they wish to secure those blessings
for which they have so long struggled, they shall continue to press on until they are successful.
In this new era of instant communications that has truly turned our world into a global village,
the nations of the world will be watching with interest what you do here. Over 63 million
Hispanics who are already an integral and productive part of our nation will also be watching
with interest. What message will you convey to them? Will your message be that equality and
self-determination in America are not available to those of Hispanic heritage? That at the
American table of plenty, Puerto Ricans need not apply? The only way to disprove such a
message finally and completely is to adopt legislation providing for a federally approved
referendum and let the American citizens of Puerto Rico vote.
Only Congress has the requisite authority under the Territorial Clause of the United States
Constitution to set forth the parameters pursuant to which a process of informed political self-
the determination may properly be held. No new federal referendum legislation should
automatically create a State, nor should it do so. Instead, it should establish a process to
determine what is the popular will of the people of Puerto Rico, and what steps need to be taken
to democratically implement that will. It is up to the American citizens of Puerto Rico ultimately
to decide if the conditions set forth by Congress to attain Statehood are acceptable to them. Let
the people vote.
I would like to end as I started – by thanking the supporters of Statehood for Puerto Rico on
this Committee. Members of this Committee who support such an outcome must and will be
commended not only by freedom-loving people in Puerto Rico but by all freedom-loving
citizens of our great American Republic. Through your words and your deeds, many of you have
repeatedly demonstrated your support for the driving cause of the American citizens of Puerto
Rico – the termination of their political and economic discrimination. By granting them an
opportunity to exercise their political self-determination, you are strengthening our democracy
and our Republic. For correcting this injustice, the American citizens of Puerto Rico will thank
you from the bottom of their hearts. This Committee should look not just at Puerto Rico’s
current impoverished situation, which is a direct by-product of its colonial condition for the last
530 years. This Committee should look at the values that those American citizens of Puerto Rico
hold dear in their hearts: undying love for this great Nation, a commitment to the democratic
principles enshrined in the Constitution of the United States, a strong commitment to the defense
of our Nation, a deep love for their families and the faith of their fathers, a respect for the
traditions and the rule of law, and the abiding faith that our Nation will grant us equality.

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Let this 118th Congress here and now commit to adopting legislation providing for a federally
sanctioned political status referendum and thereby offering Puerto Rico the opportunity to be
admitted as the 51st State of our glorious Union. Let that great enterprise bring honor to our
Nation by ending 125 years of United States colonialism and discrimination, and by granting
political equality to the people of the new State. Let this be the Congress that finally fulfills the
implied promise of political equality given to Puerto Rico when citizenship was granted to all.
Let this be the Congress that redeems the national honor of America and redresses a grievous
wrong by ending colonialism and inequality in Puerto Rico and granting to the United States
citizens of Puerto Rico the opportunity to freely exercise their informed political self-
determination. Let your actions be a beacon of hope for all remaining colonialized people of the
world. You have the sole power to make this happen. This Senate must provide for a federally
sanctioned political status referendum and let the people of Puerto Rico vote!
Thank you.