The first bill calling for Puerto Rico statehood was introduced in Congress in 1935 by Santiago Iglesias, then resident commissioner of Puerto Rico. It was described as “A BILL To enable the people of Puerto Rico to form a constitution and State government and be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the States.”
“Whereas it has been the Intention of the United States of America to prepare the people of Puerto Rico for statehood as is evidenced by the several Acts of Congress applicable to Puerto Rico and more specially by the Act of Congress approved March 2, 1917, granting United States citizenship to the people of Puerto Rico, the first step toward that end;” the bill continued, “and Whereas by concurrent resolution of the Legislature of Puerto Rico, approved April 15, 1934, it declared that the final status of Puerto Rico should be statehood and that the people of Puerto Rico desire that Puerto Rico become a State, forming a part of and associated with the federation of the United States of America; and Whereas by virtue of said resolution the people of Puerto Rico desire to petition the Congress of the United States of America for legislation authorizing the people of Puerto Rico to adopt their own State constitution for its approval by the Congress of the United States of America, therefore be it enacted.”
In other words, the federal government had provided U.S. citizenship for Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico’s elected legislature had chosen statehood as the Island’s permanent political status, so it was time for statehood.
The details
The bill called for a constitutional convention to draw up a constitution for Puerto Rico. “The constitution shall be republican in form, and make no distinction in civil or political rights on account of race or color,” the bill specified, “and shall not be repugnant to the Constitution of the United States.” Puerto Rico wrote up a constitution in the 1950s, but this has normally been done in preparation for statehood, so the 1939 statehood bill included this step.
The bill listed several more specific points about statehood. There would be a public school system and freedom of religion, and Puerto Rico would become the owner of its public lands. The state of Puerto Rico would be responsible for the debts of the territory of Puerto Rico. Details of elections and representation in Congress were also included, along with plans for funding the process. Finally, judicial details were given.
In fact, this bill was very similar to the other statehood bills for Puerto Rico and for other territories becoming states.
Then what happened?
The statehood bill stayed in committee for a year, when Iglesias reintroduced it. Shortly after its introduction in 1936, the Iglesias bill was overshadowed by the Tydings bill for independence.
Tydings was not actually a supporter of independence for Puerto Rico, and Iglesias denounced his bill as “unjust, arbitrary, and devastating for Puerto Rico … a destructive measure [that] certainly will bring nothing but despair among the people who love American democracy.” Historians generally agree that the Tydings bill was intended not to bring about independence but to make it clear to Puerto Rico that independence would not be an improvement over territorial status, even if Congress would not admit Puerto Rico as a state.
Neither bill made it out of committee.
Iglesias resubmitted his bill in 1939, and Tydings brought his back in 1945. Since that time, many more bills for statehood have been introduced, as well as a few more for independence. Congress has not acted on any of these bills.
What about free association?
There have been bills for statehood and for independence. What about free association?
Free association has been one option on several of the bills proposing status votes, including the current Puerto Rico Status Act.
However, there were bills in both the House and Senate in 1922 proposing “To declare the purpose of the people of the United States as to the political status of the people of Porto Rico, and to provide an autonomous government for the said island, creating the Associated Free State of Porto Rico.”
This bill included a bill of rights, a declaration that people born in Puerto Rico would be U.S. citizens, that the U.S. would continue to have military authority over Puerto Rico’s lands and waters, and a statement that Puerto Rico would not pay U.S. taxes. The Free Associated State of Puerto Rico would have a locally elected governor who must have been born in Puerto Rico or the United States, live in Puerto Rico, and speak and write both English and Spanish. There would also be a cabinet, described in the bill, and two Resident Commissioners.
In 1922, there were no free associated states; if the bills had passed, Puerto Rico would have been the first. The Associated Free State of Porto Rico would not have been sovereign or independent.
What now?
These bills show that the political status of Puerto Rico has been on people’s minds for more than a century, but that Congress has not yet taken definitive action. The Congress that finally sends a status bill to the president’s desk will have the honor of adding a 51st state to the United States of America.
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