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[Page H1425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROMOTING PUERTO RICO'S STATEHOOD
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from
Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon) for 5 minutes.
Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico. Mr. Speaker, on this date in
1917, Puerto Ricans became American citizens. Nineteen years after
coming under the American flag, the Jones-Shafroth Act established that
residents of Puerto Rico at the time, and their descendants, would be
citizens of the United States.
This citizenship has provided us great opportunities for security and
progress. As such, we have become an integral part of the national
experience, contributing in numerous fields of education, politics,
law, science, art, and business; and we have defended this Nation side-
by-side with our fellow citizens from other States.
We value our American citizenship so much that we included in our
local constitution that one of our defining values is:
Our Citizenship of the United States and the aspiration to
continue enriching our democratic heritage individually and
collectively in the enjoyment of its rights and prerogatives.
In votes throughout the years, overwhelming majorities of Puerto
Ricans have affirmed the intention to continue being U.S. citizens.
Yet, we have been denied that aspiration, denied that enrichment of
values of American citizenship.
In 1898, when the U.S. Forces first landed in Puerto Rico, General
Miles issued a proclamation promising: ``We have come to . . . bring
you protection . . . to promote your prosperity and bestow upon you the
immunities and blessings of the . . . institutions of our government.''
But instead, what happened was that almost right after achieving
citizenship, a Supreme Court decision, Balzac v. Porto Rico, ruled that
as residents in an unincorporated territory, we will only have
partially those rights. That, contrary to what had been the case of
every other territory before, achieving American citizenship did not
mean necessarily a road to full equality as a State.
Since then, our enjoyment of rights shared by our fellow Americans in
the States has been only in a limited manner, as the Congress and the
courts see fit to grant them. The promise remains unfulfilled.
Unfulfilled, in spite of how 220,000 Puerto Ricans have worn this
country's uniform and fought and bled for our Nation under the orders
of a Commander in Chief for whom they cannot vote.
Unfulfilled, when those living in Puerto Rico do not have full and
equal representation in this Congress that decides how they will be
ruled, what policies will be applied. As a Representative of almost 3.2
million American citizens, I am not allowed to vote on the passage of
legislation that governs their daily lives.
This allows Puerto Rico to be treated unequally under Federal laws,
regulations, and programs involving funding, levels of service,
statistics, even being treated as if we were foreign for some purposes.
But we are Americans. We are born as U.S. citizens, in soil under the
American flag, and the largest number of citizens who are
disenfranchised.
That is why I continue to promote Puerto Rico's statehood. Our people
have already decisively voted that the status quo is not acceptable and
chosen their change. We deserve, we have earned full exercise of the
dignity, rights, and privileges of our American citizenship, including
full representation and participation in the political process which
governs our lives, which is only possible with statehood.
Our American citizenship has represented 103 years of opportunities,
but making the most of those opportunities can only happen in full
equality. It is our right as citizens, and we have waited long enough.
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