Self-Determination and Virgin Islands Constitutional Convention

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. PLASKETT. Madam Speaker, today, I rise to acknowledge and congratulate the newly elected members of the Sixth Constitutional Convention in the Virgin Islands.

The willingness of each one of them to help us move forward to achieve civil rights and self-determination as a collective people is commendable. The work that they do in this legislative session will uplift generations of Virgin Islanders to come.

The legacy of the Virgin Islands--Saint Croix, Saint Thomas, Saint John, and Water Island--continues to be defined by the collective greatness of all Virgin Islanders who have resisted exploitation in the name of freedom and independence.

We first exercised our right of self-determination in 1493 when a Carib war party on the island of Saint Croix fiercely resisted Christopher Columbus' expedition, preventing his men from establishing a foothold on the island.

Over the next 200 years, the Caribs fought colonization until they were completely eradicated in 1590. Their enduring resistance is our ancestral legacy. The island of Ay Ay, Saint Croix, from which I come, is proud to see this legacy continue in this Sixth Constitutional Convention.

It continues. In 1733, the Akwamu, enslaved individuals from Ghana, fought against their enslavement on the island of Saint John and became the first organized armed resistance in the Western Hemisphere against enslavement. They held that island for almost a year until the Danes working with the Spaniards, the French, and the British were able to overthrow them.

The organizers of that rebellion chose collective suicide rather than go back to slavery.

In 1848, on the island of Saint Croix, those enslaved organized themselves, rose up, and took their freedom. Our freedom was not given to us by any individual or any government. We took it for ourselves. That is the legacy from which I come, and as a daughter of the Virgin Islands, I will continue that fight.

The Virgin Islands has held five Constitutional Conventions since its acquisition by the United States in 1917, yet no constitutional drafts have been approved since 1977. Personally, I believe some of the issues that we have put in our constitution are issues that were never resolved by Denmark when we became part of the United States.

As of 2025, the Virgin Islands have governed under the Revised Organic Act of 1954, which acts as the de facto local constitution after being passed by Congress in 1936.

As not only the Representative of the Virgin Islands here in Congress but as a daughter of those islands, my family on both sides go back in records to the 1700s, maybe earlier. And it is for them that I continue to fight for the fundamental and constitutional rights for which all Americans, including Virgin Islanders, are entitled.

When we became a part of the United States, my grandfather's generation came to Washington and insisted that we be a part of the draft. We wanted the responsibility along with the privileges of being part of the American experience. We are part of the draft. We fight in every war in numbers per capita greater than any other State, and yet, no Virgin Islander can vote for their Commander in Chief.

I have built upon the work of my predecessor, Congresswoman Donna Christensen and numerous Governors of the Virgin Islands to challenge the United States' reliance on the Insular Cases as it relates to the territories. The Insular Cases were decided at the turn of the 20th century by the Supreme Court to justify a racist and colonial legal framework for the territories.

Now, you may ask, oh, why are you saying it is racist? When the Supreme Court Justice in his opinion says that the people who inhabit these islands are savages who cannot understand constitutional law, that is prima facie racism to me, particularly when a Virgin Islander who came to the United States in the 1700s, Alexander Hamilton, helped to write that Constitution under which we stand.

However, through hard work, we have worked together over the years to overturn the Insular Cases, advance equality, and challenge the status quo. In both the 116th and 117th Congress, I am grateful that under Democratic leadership the For the People Act of 2019 and the For the People Act of 2021 included a path for voting rights and self- determination for U.S. territories. Both pieces of legislation included a congressional task force to review the issues and make recommendations on providing equitable voting representation in Congress, voting rights in the Presidential election, and fair inclusion in Federal voter protection and election integrity laws.

In this 119th Congress, I will continue to advocate for the equitable treatment of all Americans, including my fellow brothers and sisters in the territories. Self-determination, voting rights, and equitable treatment under Federal assistance programs must be the cornerstone of our work. If we work together, we can all achieve meaningful change.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source