[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2070 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2070
To recognize the right of the People of Puerto Rico to call a status
convention through which the people would exercise their natural right
to self-determination, and to establish a mechanism for congressional
consideration of such decision, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 18, 2021
Ms. Velazquez (for herself, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Waters, Mr. Scott of
Virginia, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mr. David Scott of
Georgia, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Takano, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Neal, Mr. Meeks, Mr.
Schiff, Mr. Ruiz, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Green of Texas, Ms.
Pressley, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. Clarke of New
York, Ms. Meng, Mr. Sires, Ms. Adams, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Levin of Michigan,
Mr. Brown, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Butterfield, Mr.
Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Bush, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Ms.
Matsui, Mr. Evans, Mr. Connolly, Ms. Omar, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Bowman, Mr.
Huffman, Ms. Bass, Mr. Mfume, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Doggett, Mr.
Veasey, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Jones, Mrs. Torres of California, Mr. Welch,
Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. San Nicolas, Mr. Sean
Patrick Maloney of New York, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Wild, Ms. Garcia of
Texas, Ms. Sewell, Ms. Escobar, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Thompson of California,
Ms. Speier, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Carson, Mr. Quigley, Ms. Leger
Fernandez, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms.
Titus, Mr. Correa, Mr. Higgins of New York, Mr. Rush, Mr. Castro of
Texas, and Mr. Neguse) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the
Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To recognize the right of the People of Puerto Rico to call a status
convention through which the people would exercise their natural right
to self-determination, and to establish a mechanism for congressional
consideration of such decision, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act
of 2021''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) In 1898, the United States defeated the Spanish Kingdom
in the Spanish-American War and acquired by conquest Puerto
Rico, Guam, and the Philippines pursuant to the Treaty of
Paris.
(2) In 1900, Congress established a civilian government on
the island through the Foraker Act. Among other points, that
Act established an ``executive council'' consisting of various
department heads and a presidentially appointed civilian
governor.
(3) The Foraker Act also established the Resident
Commissioner position to represent island interests in
Congress. These duties came to include nonvoting service in the
House of Representatives.
(4) In 1901, the Supreme Court's decisions in Downes v.
Bidwell and its progeny held that for purposes of the
Constitution's Uniformity Clause, Puerto Rico was not part of
the United States and subject to the plenary powers of
Congress, which in turn established a colonial relationship.
Justice White, in concurrence, opined that Congress has
discretion to decide whether and when to incorporate a
territory into the United States.
(5) Congress recognized Puerto Rico's authority over
matters of internal governance in 1950 with the passage of the
Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950 (Public Law 81-600),
providing for a constitutional government for the island which
was adopted by Congress as a compact for the people of Puerto
Rico and the subsequent ratification of the island's
constitution in July 1952.
(6) On November 18, 1953, the United Nations recognized
Puerto Rico as a self-governing political entity under the
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 748.
(7) The political status of Puerto Rico is of significant
interest to communities both on and off the island, including
diaspora groups that continue having strong cultural ties and
socioeconomic ties to Puerto Rico.
(8) The United States has a legal duty to comply with
Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, which establishes that all peoples have the right to
self-determination and ``by virtue of that right they freely
determine their political status and freely pursue their
economic, social and cultural development''.
(9) The status convention provides a deliberative,
comprehensive, and uninterrupted space of dialogue that can
define the future of Puerto Rico.
SEC. 3. PUERTO RICO STATUS CONVENTION.
(a) In General.--The legislature of Puerto Rico has the inherent
authority to call a status convention through an Act or Concurrent
Resolution, constituted by a number of delegates to be determined in
accordance with legislation approved by the Government of Puerto Rico,
for the purpose of proposing to the people of Puerto Rico self-
determination options. A status convention called by the legislature of
Puerto Rico shall--
(1) be a semipermanent body that is dissolved only when the
United States ratifies the self-determination option presented
to Congress by the status convention as selected by the people
of Puerto Rico in the referendum under section 5; and
(2) consist of delegates elected by the voters of Puerto
Rico in an election conducted according to the enabling
legislation for the status convention as approved by the
legislature of Puerto Rico.
(b) Public Financing of Delegate Elections.--
(1) Fund established.--There is hereby established in the
Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the
``Puerto Rico Status Convention Public Matching Fund'' which
shall be administered by the Puerto Rico State Commission on
Elections and subject to oversight by the Federal Election
Commission. To the extent amounts are made available in the
fund for this purpose, the Puerto Rico State Commission on
Elections shall distribute amounts in the fund such that $4 is
distributed to each candidate for delegate for every $1 that
the candidate receives as a campaign contribution that is--
(A) less than $100; and
(B) donated by a resident of Puerto Rico.
(2) Requirements for funding.--To be eligible to receive
funds under this subsection, a candidate for delegate shall--
(A) agree to increased financial oversight from the
Federal Election Commission;
(B) limit campaign spending to not more than
$25,000; and
(C) demonstrate a basic level of support from
residents of Puerto Rico by receiving from residents of
Puerto Rico not fewer than 50 donations from 50
individuals of not more than $50.
(3) Administrative amounts.-- Not more than 10 percent of
amounts made available under paragraph (4) may be use for
administrative costs of the Federal Election Commission.
(4) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated and deposited into the Puerto Rico Status
Convention Public Matching Fund to carry out this section
$5,500,000.
(c) Delegates.--Delegates elected under subsection (a)(2), in
consultation with the Commission, shall--
(1) debate and draft definitions on self-determination
options for Puerto Rico, which shall be outside the Territorial
Clause of the United States Constitution;
(2) draft a least one accompanying transition plan for each
self-determination option; and
(3) select and present to the people of Puerto Rico the
self-determination options that will be included in the
referendum under section 5.
SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL BILATERAL NEGOTIATING COMMISSION.
(a) Establishment.--There is established a Congressional Bilateral
Negotiating Commission (hereinafter referred to as the ``Commission'')
to provide advice and consultation to delegates elected under section
3(a)(2).
(b) Composition.--
(1) In general.--The members of the Commission shall
include--
(A) the chairs of the Committee on Natural
Resources of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
Senate;
(B) the ranking members of the Committee on Natural
Resources of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
Senate;
(C) one member selected by the majority leader of
the House of Representatives;
(D) one member selected by the minority leader of
the House of Representatives;
(E) one member selected by the majority leader of
the Senate;
(F) one member selected by the minority leader of
the Senate;
(G) the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico;
(H) with the consent of the Speaker of the House of
Representatives and majority leader of the Senate, a
member from the Department of Justice; and
(I) with the consent of the Speaker of the House of
Representatives and majority leader of the Senate, a
member from the Department of the Interior.
(2) Requirements for certain members.--Members selected
under subparagraphs (C) through (F) of paragraph (1) shall
represent a State or district in a State that, as determined by
the most recently publicly available data from the Bureau of
the Census, represents one of the 10 States with the largest
population of people who identified on the most recent Census
as Puerto Rican.
(c) Duties and Functions.--The Commission--
(1) shall meet periodically with the delegates in Puerto
Rico and the District of Columbia, at the request of a majority
of the delegates, with each meeting required to include at
least one delegate from each of the self-determination options;
(2) shall have the authority to--
(A) study;
(B) make findings;
(C) develop recommendations regarding self-
determination options on constitutional issues and
policies related to--
(i) culture;
(ii) language;
(iii) judicial and public education
systems;
(iv) taxes; and
(v) United States citizenship; and
(D) provide technical assistance and constitutional
advice to the delegates during the Puerto Rico status
convention;
(3) may hold public hearings in connection with any aspects
of the convention at the request of the delegates or on its
own; and
(4) may receive testimony.
(d) Reports.--The Commission shall--
(1) not less than quarterly, provide status reports,
findings, and studies to the House of Representatives and the
Senate;
(2) not less than once every 12 months, submit a status
report to the House of Representatives and the Senate; and
(3) make reports submitted under paragraph (2) available to
the general public in widely accessible formats in English and
Spanish on the same day that such reports are submitted under
paragraph (2).
SEC. 5. PUERTO RICO STATUS REFERENDUM; EDUCATION CAMPAIGN.
(a) Structure and Process.--
(1) In general.--A referendum vote by the people of Puerto
Rico--
(A) may be conducted in a ranked-choice voting
format in which voters rank choices by preference on
their ballots without a limit on the number of choices
ranked;
(B) may consist of choices each composed of a self-
determination definition and accompanying transition
plan as presented by the delegates under section 3; and
(C) may include more than one choice with the same
self-determination definition, but a distinct
accompanying transition plan as presented by the
delegates under section 3.
(2) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated the Puerto Rico State Commission on
Elections, $2,500,000 to carry out a referendum vote under this
subsection.
(b) Educational Campaign.--
(1) In general.--Delegates shall carry out an educational
campaign through traditional paid media related to the
referendum under subsection (a).
(2) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated the Puerto Rico State Commission on
Elections, $5,000,000 to carry out an educational campaign
under this subsection. The Federal Election Commission shall
ensure that funds made available under this paragraph are
divided equally among each self-determination option
represented on the referendum held under this Act.
(3) Quarterly campaign reports.--Each delegates shall
submit quarterly campaign reports of the educational campaigns
to the Federal Election Commission.
SEC. 6. CONGRESSIONAL DELIBERATION AND ENACTING RESOLUTION.
If the referendum under this Act is approved by the people of
Puerto Rico, Congress shall approve a joint resolution to ratify the
preferred self-determination option approved in that referendum vote.
If the Congress adjourns sine die before acting on the self-
determination option, the Puerto Rico status convention created under
this Act may meet again and send or resend a self-determination options
to the following Congress.
SEC. 7. JOINT RESOLUTION.
(a) Definition.--The term ``joint resolution'' means a joint
resolution that is introduced within the 10-day period beginning on the
date when the results of the referendum are certified by Puerto Rico's
Commission on Elections.
(b) Referral.--A resolution described in subsection (a) that is
introduced in the House of Representatives shall be referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources and in the Senate shall be referred to
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
(c) Discharge.--If the committee to which a resolution described in
subsection (a) is referred has not reported such resolution (or an
identical resolution) by the end of the day period beginning on the day
of certification of referendum results shall be, at the end of such
period, discharged from further consideration of such resolution, and
such resolution shall be placed on the appropriate calendar of the Body
involved.
(d) Consideration.--(1) On or after the third day after the date on
which the committee to which such a resolution is referred has
reported, or has been discharged (under subsection (c)) from further
consideration of, such a resolution, it is in order (even though a
previous motion to the same effect has been disagreed to) for any
Member of the respective body to move to proceed to the consideration
of the resolution. A Member may make the motion only on the day after
the calendar day on which the Member announces to the body concerned
the Member's intention to make the motion, except that, in the case of
the House of Representatives, the motion may be made without such prior
announcement if the motion is made by direction of the committee to
which the resolution was referred. All points of order against the
resolution (and against consideration of the resolution) are waived.
The motion is highly privileged in the House of Representatives and is
privileged in the Senate and is not debatable. The motion is not
subject to amendment, or to a motion to postpone, or to a motion to
proceed to the consideration of other business. A motion to reconsider
the vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall not be
in order. If a motion to proceed to the consideration of the resolution
is agreed to, the respective body shall immediately proceed to
consideration of the joint resolution without intervening motion,
order, or other business, and the resolution shall remain the
unfinished business of the respective body until disposed of.
(2) Debate on the resolution, and on all debatable motions and
appeals in connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than 2
hours, which shall be divided equally between those favoring and those
opposing the resolution. An amendment to the resolution is not in
order. A motion further to limit debate is in order and not debatable.
A motion to postpone, or a motion to proceed to the consideration of
other business, or a motion to recommit the resolution is not in order.
A motion to reconsider the vote by which the resolution is agreed to or
disagreed to is not in order.
(3) Immediately following the conclusion of the debate on a
resolution described in subsection (a) and a single quorum call at the
conclusion of the debate if requested in accordance with the rules of
the appropriate body, the vote on final passage of the resolution shall
occur.
(4) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating to the
application of the rules of the Senate or the House of Representatives,
as the case may be, to the procedure relating to a resolution described
in subsection (a) shall be decided without debate.
(e) Consideration by Other Body.--If, before the passage by one
body of a resolution of that body described in subsection (a), that
body receives from the other body a resolution described in subsection
(a), then the following procedures shall apply:
(1) The resolution of the other body shall not be referred
to a committee and may not be considered in the body receiving
it except in the case of final passage as provided in
subparagraph (B)(ii).
(2) With respect to a resolution described in subsection
(a) of the body receiving the resolution--
(A) the procedure in that body shall be the same as
if no resolution had been received from the other body;
but
(B) the vote on final passage shall be on the
resolution of the other body.
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