Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon (R-PR) is one of the authors of HR 8393, The Puerto Rico Status Bill now being considered in Congress. She is a member of the Natural Resources Committee, and the only elected representative in Puerto Rico. However, some of her Republican colleagues on the committee have raised objections to the bill.
They proposed amendments to the bill in the discussion recorded in the video above.
Proposed amendments
Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR), the ranking Republican on the committee, proposed an amendment to the bill which will delay the proposed plebiscite until the goals of PROMESA have been achieved. He also told El Nuevo Dia that he does not want the bill to be self-executing.
Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) introduced an amendment requiring a 2/3 vote for statehood in Puerto Rico’s plebiscite and a 2/3 vote in Congress to approve a change in Puerto Rico’s status. Alaska was admitted as a state with a 53% majority in Congress.
McClintock also proposed amendments calling for English to be the language of government, courts, and public schools in Puerto Rico, as well as an amendment asking for the current territorial status and “none of the above” to be added to the three options currently included in the bill.
Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) had an amendment to remove the option of U.S. citizenship for children born in an Associated Republic of Puerto Rico.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) wanted to remove sections of the bill, including the section calling for an end to PROMESA’s oversight board, federal grants to an independent Puerto Rico (with or without free association), and the voter education campaign called for and funded by the bill.
No amendments passed, nothing new was said
The discussion continued for three hours, with recesses. All the amendments failed. The bill will go on to the House for further debate and a vote.
There were many interesting discussions and the video is worth watching. But all of the concerns expressed and all of the disagreements aired have been discussed thoroughly at this website, in previous hearings, and in conversations in the states and in Puerto Rico. The same concerns are likely to come up in debate with the full House.
We see that some of the Members of Congress in the discussion didn’t have the background on these issues that they need. We know that this is the case for many people. Before Hurricane Maria, half the people living in the states didn’t know that Puerto Ricans were citizens of the United States.
As we move ahead with HR 8393, it is important that those who know about Puerto Rico help the rest of America — including Congress — get educated about the new state. Please help your friends and family, as well as your representatives in Congress, learn what they need to know.
One response
“There are people in every time and every land who want to stop history in its tracks. They fear the future, mistrust the present, and invoke the security of a comfortable past which, in fact, never existed”
Robert F. Kennedy
Kudos to the extraordinary team effort that resulted in the mark-up of H.R. 8393.
Our American economic, social, and demographic fabric is continuously evolving. Just as Loyalists faded in history after the American Revolution, so will Puerto Rico’s statehood opponents and objectors.
The will of the electorate’s Puerto Rican majority is clearly in favor of statehood.
Congressional facts and healthy debate are part of the process.
Cantankerous obstructionism based on constitutional and historical ignorance, incorrect facts, divisive, outdated segregational stereotyping, and submission to special interest manipulations is unacceptable and will leave a sad legacy for those members of Congress who engage in such behavior.
The U.S. Congress must lead by example and show that by honoring their oath of office and our USA constitution, our country remains true, resolute, and unstoppable.
The Puerto Rico Status Act must pass in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate promptly.
Looking towards the future, Puerto Rico State will be an example of success and democratic hope to our continental neighbors, will expand our regional national security, and finally provide socio-political and economic equality to its 3+ million American citizens.