Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 865 To recognize the right of the People of Puerto Rico to call a status convention through which the people would exercise their natural right to self- determination, and to establish a mechanism for congressional consider- ation of such decision, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 18, 2021 Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. BROWN, Mr. BOOKER, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To recognize the right of the People of Puerto Rico to call a status convention through which the people would exercise their natural right to self-determination, and to establish a mechanism for congressional consideration of such decision, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Puerto Rico Self-De- 4 termination Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S865.IS S865 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 865 IS SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds as follows: 2 (1) In 1898, the United States defeated the 3 Spanish Kingdom in the Spanish-American War and 4 acquired by conquest Puerto Rico, Guam, and the 5 Philippines pursuant to the Treaty of Paris. 6 (2) In 1900, Congress established a civilian 7 government on the island through the Foraker Act. 8 Among other points, that Act established an ‘‘execu- 9 tive council’’ consisting of various department heads 10 and a presidentially appointed civilian governor. 11 (3) The Foraker Act also established the Resi- 12 dent Commissioner position to represent island in- 13 terests in Congress. These duties came to include 14 nonvoting service in the House of Representatives. 15 (4) In 1901, the Supreme Court’s decisions in 16 Downes v. Bidwell and its progeny held that for pur- 17 poses of the Constitution’s Uniformity Clause, Puer- 18 to Rico was not part of the United States and sub- 19 ject to the plenary powers of Congress, which in 20 turn established a colonial relationship. Justice 21 White, in concurrence, opined that Congress has dis- 22 cretion to decide whether and when to incorporate a 23 territory into the United States. 24 (5) Congress recognized Puerto Rico’s authority 25 over matters of internal governance in 1950 with the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S865.IS S865 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 865 IS passage of the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1 1950 (Public Law 81–600), providing for a constitu- 2 tional government for the island which was adopted 3 by Congress as a compact for the people of Puerto 4 Rico and the subsequent ratification of the island’s 5 constitution in July 1952. 6 (6) On November 18, 1953, the United Nations 7 recognized Puerto Rico as a self-governing political 8 entity under the United Nations General Assembly 9 Resolution 748. 10 (7) The political status of Puerto Rico is of sig- 11 nificant interest to communities both on and off the 12 island, including diaspora groups that continue hav- 13 ing strong cultural ties and socioeconomic ties to 14 Puerto Rico. 15 (8) The United States has a legal duty to com- 16 ply with Article 1 of the International Covenant on 17 Civil and Political Rights, which establishes that all 18 peoples have the right to self-determination and ‘‘by 19 virtue of that right they freely determine their polit- 20 ical status and freely pursue their economic, social 21 and cultural development’’. 22 (9) The status convention provides a delibera- 23 tive, comprehensive, and uninterrupted space of dia- 24 logue that can define the future of Puerto Rico. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S865.IS S865 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 865 IS SEC. 3. PUERTO RICO STATUS CONVENTION. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—The legislature of Puerto Rico has 2 the inherent authority to call a status convention through 3 an Act or Concurrent Resolution, constituted by a number 4 of delegates to be determined in accordance with legisla- 5 tion approved by the Government of Puerto Rico, for the 6 purpose of proposing to the people of Puerto Rico self- 7 determination options. A status convention called by the 8 legislature of Puerto Rico shall— 9 (1) be a semipermanent body that is dissolved 10 only when the United States ratifies the self-deter- 11 mination option presented to Congress by the status 12 convention as selected by the people of Puerto Rico 13 in the referendum under section 5; and 14 (2) consist of delegates elected by the voters of 15 Puerto Rico in an election conducted according to 16 the enabling legislation for the status convention as 17 approved by the legislature of Puerto Rico. 18 (b) PUBLIC FINANCING OF DELEGATE ELEC- 19 TIONS.— 20 (1) FUND ESTABLISHED.—There is hereby es- 21 tablished in the Treasury of the United States a 22 fund to be known as the ‘‘Puerto Rico Status Con- 23 vention Public Matching Fund’’ which shall be ad- 24 ministered by the Puerto Rico State Commission on 25 Elections and subject to oversight by the Federal 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S865.IS S865 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 865 IS Election Commission. To the extent amounts are 1 made available in the fund for this purpose, the 2 Puerto Rico State Commission on Elections shall 3 distribute amounts in the fund such that $4 is dis- 4 tributed to each candidate for delegate for every $1 5 that the candidate receives as a campaign contribu- 6 tion that is— 7 (A) less than $100; and 8 (B) donated by a resident of Puerto Rico. 9 (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR FUNDING.—To be eli- 10 gible to receive funds under this subsection, a can- 11 didate for delegate shall— 12 (A) agree to increased financial oversight 13 from the Federal Election Commission; 14 (B) limit campaign spending to not more 15 than $25,000; and 16 (C) demonstrate a basic level of support 17 from residents of Puerto Rico by receiving from 18 residents of Puerto Rico not fewer than 50 do- 19 nations from 50 individuals of not more than 20 $50. 21 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE AMOUNTS.— Not more 22 than 10 percent of amounts made available under 23 paragraph (4) may be use for administrative costs of 24 the Federal Election Commission. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S865.IS S865 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 865 IS (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 1 There is authorized to be appropriated and deposited 2 into the Puerto Rico Status Convention Public 3 Matching Fund to carry out this section $5,500,000. 4 (c) DELEGATES.—Delegates elected under subsection 5 (a)(2), in consultation with the Commission, shall— 6 (1) debate and draft definitions on self-deter- 7 mination options for Puerto Rico, which shall be 8 outside the Territorial Clause of the United States 9 Constitution; 10 (2) draft a least one accompanying transition 11 plan for each self-determination option; and 12 (3) select and present to the people of Puerto 13 Rico the self-determination options that will be in- 14 cluded in the referendum under section 5. 15 SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL BILATERAL NEGOTIATING COM- 16 MISSION. 17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Con- 18 gressional Bilateral Negotiating Commission (hereinafter 19 referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) to provide advice and 20 consultation to delegates elected under section 3(a)(2). 21 (b) COMPOSITION.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The members of the Com- 23 mission shall include— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S865.IS S865 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 865 IS (A) the chairs of the Committee on Nat- 1 ural Resources of the House of Representatives 2 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re- 3 sources of the Senate; 4 (B) the ranking members of the Com- 5 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of 6 Representatives and the Committee on Energy 7 and Natural Resources of the Senate; 8 (C) one member selected by the majority 9 leader of the House of Representatives; 10 (D) one member selected by the minority 11 leader of the House of Representatives; 12 (E) one member selected by the majority 13 leader of the Senate; 14 (F) one member selected by the minority 15 leader of the Senate; 16 (G) the Resident Commissioner of Puerto 17 Rico; 18 (H) with the consent of the Speaker of the 19 House of Representatives and majority leader 20 of the Senate, a member from the Department 21 of Justice; and 22 (I) with the consent of the Speaker of the 23 House of Representatives and majority leader 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S865.IS S865 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 865 IS of the Senate, a member from the Department 1 of the Interior. 2 (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS.— 3 Members selected under subparagraphs (C) through 4 (F) of paragraph (1) shall represent a State or dis- 5 trict in a State that, as determined by the most re- 6 cently publicly available data from the Bureau of the 7 Census, represents one of the 10 States with the 8 largest population of people who identified on the 9 most recent Census as Puerto Rican. 10 (c) DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS.—The Commission— 11 (1) shall meet periodically with the delegates in 12 Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, at the re- 13 quest of a majority of the delegates, with each meet- 14 ing required to include at least one delegate from 15 each of the self-determination options; 16 (2) shall have the authority to— 17 (A) study; 18 (B) make findings; 19 (C) develop recommendations regarding 20 self-determination options on constitutional 21 issues and policies related to— 22 (i) culture; 23 (ii) language; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S865.IS S865 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 865 IS (iii) judicial and public education sys- 1 tems; 2 (iv) taxes; and 3 (v) United States citizenship; and 4 (D) provide technical assistance and con- 5 stitutional advice to the delegates during the 6 Puerto Rico status convention; 7 (3) may hold public hearings in connection with 8 any aspects of the convention at the request of the 9 delegates or on its own; and 10 (4) may receive testimony. 11 (d) REPORTS.—The Commission shall— 12 (1) not less than quarterly, provide status re- 13 ports, findings, and studies to the House of Rep- 14 resentatives and the Senate; 15 (2) not less than once every 12 months, submit 16 a status report to the House of Representatives and 17 the Senate; and 18 (3) make reports submitted under paragraph 19 (2) available to the general public in widely acces- 20 sible formats in English and Spanish on the same 21 day that such reports are submitted under para- 22 graph (2). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S865.IS S865 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 865 IS SEC. 5. PUERTO RICO STATUS REFERENDUM; EDUCATION 1 CAMPAIGN. 2 (a) STRUCTURE AND PROCESS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—A referendum vote by the 4 people of Puerto Rico— 5 (A) may be conducted in a ranked-choice 6 voting format in which voters rank choices by 7 preference on their ballots without a limit on 8 the number of choices ranked; 9 (B) may consist of choices each composed 10 of a self-determination definition and accom- 11 panying transition plan as presented by the del- 12 egates under section 3; and 13 (C) may include more than one choice with 14 the same self-determination definition, but a 15 distinct accompanying transition plan as pre- 16 sented by the delegates under section 3. 17 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 18 There is authorized to be appropriated the Puerto 19 Rico State Commission on Elections, $2,500,000 to 20 carry out a referendum vote under this subsection. 21 (b) EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Delegates shall carry out an 23 educational campaign through traditional paid media 24 related to the referendum under subsection (a). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S865.IS S865 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 865 IS (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 1 There is authorized to be appropriated the Puerto 2 Rico State Commission on Elections, $5,000,000 to 3 carry out an educational campaign under this sub- 4 section. The Federal Election Commission shall en- 5 sure that funds made available under this paragraph 6 are divided equally among each self-determination 7 option represented on the referendum held under 8 this Act. 9 (3) QUARTERLY CAMPAIGN REPORTS.—Each 10 delegates shall submit quarterly campaign reports of 11 the educational campaigns to the Federal Election 12 Commission. 13 SEC. 6. CONGRESSIONAL DELIBERATION AND ENACTING 14 RESOLUTION. 15 If the referendum under this Act is approved by the 16 people of Puerto Rico, Congress shall approve a joint reso- 17 lution to ratify the preferred self-determination option ap- 18 proved in that referendum vote. If the Congress adjourns 19 sine die before acting on the self-determination option, the 20 Puerto Rico status convention created under this Act may 21 meet again and send or resend a self-determination op- 22 tions to the following Congress. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S865.IS S865 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 865 IS SEC. 7. JOINT RESOLUTION. 1 (a) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘joint resolution’’ means 2 a joint resolution that is introduced within the 10-day pe- 3 riod beginning on the date when the results of the ref- 4 erendum are certified by Puerto Rico’s Commission on 5 Elections. 6 (b) REFERRAL.—A resolution described in subsection 7 (a) that is introduced in the House of Representatives 8 shall be referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 9 and in the Senate shall be referred to the Committee on 10 Energy and Natural Resources. 11 (c) DISCHARGE.—If the committee to which a resolu- 12 tion described in subsection (a) is referred has not re- 13 ported such resolution (or an identical resolution) by the 14 end of the day period beginning on the day of certification 15 of referendum results shall be, at the end of such period, 16 discharge [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]