Issued Dec. 15, 2022
New York City, NY – Today the House of Representatives voted to pass a bill that denies the basic democratic rights of the people of Puerto Rico to have full information and participation in a decolonization process that should be fair and transparent. Instead, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer jammed a bill through the House that was never the subject of open public hearings, that barred Democratic amendments in committee, and lacks key details over the language, economic, and cultural information necessary for Puerto Ricans to make a final decision over their future, Power 4 Puerto Rico and other diaspora and allied grassroots progressive organizations denounced.
Thanks to the insistence of over 100 progressive groups of all backgrounds, in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, we advanced the conversation around status and won in key aspects. This bill, thanks to our relentless advocacy, finally recognized that any true self-determination process has to include all non-colonial options. Thanks to our pressure, this bill also clarified the nature of birthright citizenship under free association. We also applaud the inclusion of international observers in this process, as a recognition of Puerto Rico’s unique national, language and cultural identity.
However, the bill fails democratic principles of transparency and participation in the following ways:
· In the option of annexation (i.e. becoming the 52nd U.S. state), the bill omits what the operating language of the courts, legislature and schools will be. Will the new state of Puerto Rico conduct its public operations in English as all 50 states currently do? Or will the first Caribbean state continue to conduct its core government and day-to-day functions in Spanish as it is today?
· Will an effective 70 percent income tax rate be applied?
· What will happen to Puerto Rico’s debt or the imposition of the Jones Act?
· Under independence, the bill allows the United States to dictate the terms of the new republic’s constitution. Would the 13 colonies have accepted such a dictum from King George in 1776?
How can Congress pretend to free Puerto Rico from the shackles of colonialism it has imposed by denying them critical details of the consequences of their votes?
We urge the Senate to put the brakes on this deeply flawed bill and we urge President Biden to re-examine a framework set up by a ruling party of Puerto Rico that received only 33 percent support.
Power 4 Puerto Rico Coalition
Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora