Puerto Rico Democracy Act Of 2009
Floor Speech
Puerto Rico Democracy Act Of 2009
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Chairman, I would like to yield 15 seconds to the gen tle lady from New York (Ms. Velázquez).
Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment.
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
After being engaged in the spirited debate surrounding this bill, I am pleased to report that both supporters and opponents of the underlying bill, regardless of partisanship, can support the amendment I am offering. It's my belief that Congress has no business considering this bill at this time.
Puerto Ricans have voted on statehood three times without congressional action. Although congressional action is not needed, statehood advocates have defined this bill as necessary to providing a ``congressionally sanctioned'' vote process for Puerto Rico to determine its political status. However, if we are going to do this, we need to pass a bill that ensures fair consideration of all points of view.
Although the bill is being touted as one to allow Puerto Ricans the opportunity to exercise political self-determination, as it's currently written it denies commonwealth status quo supporters freedom to vote for their preferred option in the second stage of the plebiscite.
In the first stage of the plebiscite, Puerto Ricans are given two choices: the status quo or change. It's easy to see how anyone, even Commonwealth status quo supporters, would support some sort of change in their political processes. However, consensus on this question would move to a second stage, where Puerto Ricans choose only from three options: statehood, independence, or sovereignty in association with the United States. These three options deny supporters of continuing the Commonwealth status quo the freedom to vote for their preferred political status. Whether they support statehood, independence, or the Commonwealth status quo, Puerto Ricans' views should be given equal and fair consideration.
My amendment very simply adds a fourth option: ``Commonwealth: Puerto Rico should continue to have its present form of political status to the available voting options for the second stage of the plebiscite.''
This amendment takes nothing from the bill, but adds an option to reflect the views held by a significant portion of Puerto Ricans who should not be dis en fran chised by this bill. This is an amendment Members of all persuasions can support. Opponents of the bill can remain opposed, but take comfort in knowing the bill was made a little better. Supporters, or even cosponsors, can take comfort in knowing their bill was made even better.
With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
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Ms. FOXX. Mr. Chairman, my colleague says this bill has been carefully crafted. Yes, it's been carefully crafted to keep the people who want the present status from being a choice. That is wrong. That should not be the way this bill is done. If they want to keep the present status, they should be able to vote for it.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I believe I have the right to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. FOXX. Could I inquire, Mr. Chairman, as to how much time I have left.
The CHAIR. The gentlewoman from North Carolina has 2 1/2 minutes remaining.
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Chairman, I think this bill as it is crafted is not the right way to go for the people of Puerto Rico. I don't have a dog in this fight. I have not taken a position on whether they should have statehood or not have statehood, but I don't like the Congress of the United States being used to create a situation that disenfranchises people. And that's what's happening.
We are wasting our time doing this. We don't need to do it. The people of Puerto Rico can vote on this without our doing this. We should be dealing with what is important to the American people--jobs and other issues. This is not necessary for us to do.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to my colleague, the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Chaffetz).
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Chairman, I'd just encourage my colleagues to listen to the argument on the other side. They don't want the status quo to be one of the options. This is supposed to be a bill about self-determination, yet it's this Congress that's going to force its will to determine what is even going to be on the ballot. This is fundamentally wrong. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this amendment.
Mr. RAHALL. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Chairman, can I inquire again as to how much time is left on my side.
The CHAIR. The gentlewoman has 1 1/2 minutes remaining.
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 1/4 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velázquez).
Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is a commendable effort to try and improve a deeply flawed piece of legislation, and I really thank the gentlewoman for being so committed to providing for a process of self-determination for the people of Puerto Rico. Elections are only democratic if the people are not blocked from choosing between all the options potentially available to them. One of the many shortcomings of this bill is that under the scheme it establishes, the second ballot will not include commonwealth as an option for voters.
Again, because what they want is for the people of Puerto Rico to vote for statehood instead of providing a fair, democratic process. That is undemocratic. It is un-American. That defies imagination. That is essentially telling the people of Puerto Rico that the system of government under which they currently live is not even an option for them to consider.
This approach ignores the fact that the Commonwealth is what the majority of the people of Puerto Rico have selected in the last three previous popular votes. The amendment offered by the gen tle lady will take a good first step forward, and I am wholeheartedly in support of that amendment.
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Chairman, again, I want to say that I think the Congress of the United States is being used unfairly in this process. We do not need to be doing this. What the proponents of statehood are doing is rigging the process in favor of a vote for statehood and they're using the Congress of the United States to establish the process for them. We don't need to be passing this bill. The people of Puerto Rico can vote without this bill.
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