Puerto Rico Status Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. SOTO. Madam Speaker, it is time to set our people free. After 124 years, it is past time for Americans in Puerto Rico to decide their own form of government.
The Puerto Rico Status Act will finally allow Puerto Ricans to throw off their colonial bonds, finally end their territorial status and choose for themselves: statehood, independence, and sovereignty with free association. What a historic day today is in the U.S. House of Representatives.
With the option of statehood, which is my preference, it is simple. Puerto Rico would become the 51st State in our Nation, with all the representation rights of our States.
With independence, they would become an independent nation, a sovereign free to decide their own future.
With sovereignty with free association, they would be an independent nation and would have the right to enter into a compact, a contract between the United States and Puerto Rico that would provide for citizenship for a limited time, foreign policy agreements, among other matters.
The history of this bill this term is really important to discuss. We had two hearings that lasted a day each. We had bipartisan negotiations with the great leader on the Republican side, Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, the very voice of the island of Puerto Rico, along with my colleagues Nydia Velazquez, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, our great chairman here, and, of course, our leader.
It is bipartisan. Just to make sure, we had another nearly daylong hearing, meeting with stakeholders on the island after the draft was released.
Then, of course, we had a markup. That lasted all day. In fact, I can't think of a single bill that we have gotten out of the Natural Resources Committee that we spent more time on this term than this bill.
Of course, we see a long history of discrimination against territories, or excuses for why territories shouldn't become States.
With Texas, they said, ``Could a nation become a State?'' But they got in.
With New Mexico, they talked about a majority Hispanic native State. It took them nearly 70 years. They got in.
In Utah, there was religious discrimination. In Hawaii, it was a nation and a predominantly native island--Alaska, as well.
One by one, we admitted these territories as States based upon their desire to join the Union.
At this moment, I can't help but well up with emotion. I think about the brave, Borinqueneers, who fought in World War I, World War II, Korea. Puerto Ricans serve in our armed services to this day in greater numbers, in many instances, than States. Many died fighting for a country that organized them into segregated units, sent them there on orders of a Commander in Chief for whom they could not vote under our laws. Yet, as Puerto Ricans, as Americans, they did so proudly, sacrificing their lives for our freedom.
I think about my trips to Iraq and Afghanistan during the global war on terror. I can never forget traveling through the vast desert of Kuwait and, upon landing at an isolated base, there was the Puerto Rican flag flying in the middle of the desert. You have to wonder, what were they doing there? It is out of love of this country that they were there.
I was similarly welcomed by a Puerto Rican medical unit proudly serving in Afghanistan under constant threat of danger.
I think about those families I met after Hurricane Maria and the devastation caused there, the most deadly disaster in modern history. That was a watershed moment for so many of us. It just showed how fragile the rights of those on the island were, recovering from Puerto Rico's worst disaster, with Hurricane Maria.
I also think of my bisabuela, Altagracia Casanova. Born just after the turn of the 20th century, I met her for the first time when she was in her late eighties during my first trip to the island. I was only 3 years old. We developed a close relationship, and she ultimately lived to 96 years old.
Her life spanned nearly a century. All the while, she lived in a colonial territory as a second-class citizen in the greatest democracy in the world. What a tragedy. What an irony.
I think about my abuela, Sara Casanova, who would come to the mainland every summer to spend time with us, teach us the language and history, enjoy our native food and music, and familiarize us with our family's native culture.
She died right before my first successful primary to the Florida House of Representatives back in 2007. But before she passed, even with a fading memory, she read about the campaign in La Prensa and cried. She understood it was a historic moment for our family, a passing of the torch to the next generation.
I carry that torch into this Chamber, and I ask you all to support freedom for our family back on the island, just like we expect for every other American.
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