I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1965 To set forth the terms for the admission of the territory of Puerto Rico as a State of the Union. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 28, 2019 Mr. SOTO (for himself and Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puerto Rico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To set forth the terms for the admission of the territory of Puerto Rico as a State of the Union. 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 Admission 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 (1) the duly elected legislature of Puerto Rico 8 passed legislation to hold a plebiscite on the status 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1965.IH H1965 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1965 IH of Puerto Rico, which was enacted on June 11, 1 2017; 2 (2) in that plebiscite, voters were given choices: 3 Statehood, Free Association/Independence, Current 4 Territorial Status; 5 (3) that plebiscite was duly noticed and held on 6 June 11, 2017 in accordance with all Puerto Rico 7 and Federal laws; 8 (4) that plebiscite was satisfactorily observed by 9 a bipartisan Congressional Delegation of Represent- 10 ative Don Young and Representative Darren Soto; 11 and 12 (5) 97.2 percent of votes favored Statehood. 13 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 14 The purpose of the Act is to set forth the terms for 15 the admission of the territory of Puerto Rico as a State 16 of the Union. 17 SEC. 4. ADMISSION INTO THE UNION. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of this 19 Act, upon issuance of the proclamation required by section 20 5, the State of Puerto Rico is declared to be a State of 21 the United States of America, and is declared admitted 22 into the Union on an equal footing with the other States 23 in all respects whatever. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1965.IH H1965 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1965 IH (b) CONSTITUTION OF STATE.—The State Constitu- 1 tion shall always be republican in form and shall not be 2 repugnant to the United States Constitution and the prin- 3 ciples of the Declaration of Independence. The current 4 Puerto Rico Constitution is deemed to be republican in 5 form and in conformity with the United States Constitu- 6 tion and is hereby accepted as the constitution of the State 7 of Puerto Rico. 8 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after en- 10 actment of this Act, the President shall issue a proclama- 11 tion announcing that Puerto Rico is admitted into the 12 Union on equal footing with other States in all respects. 13 (b) ADMISSION OF STATE UPON ISSUANCE OF PROC- 14 LAMATION.—Upon the issuance of the proclamation under 15 subsection (a), the State shall be deemed admitted into 16 the Union as provided in section 4. 17 SEC. 6. STATE OF PUERTO RICO. 18 Upon the admission of Puerto Rico into the Union 19 as a State, the following apply: 20 (1) TERRITORY.—The newly admitted State of 21 Puerto Rico shall consist of all its islands, together 22 with the appurtenant reefs and territorial waters in 23 the seaward boundary, presently under the jurisdic- 24 tion of the territory of Puerto Rico. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1965.IH H1965 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1965 IH (2) CONTINUITY OF GOVERNMENT.—Persons 1 holding executive, legislative, and judicial offices in 2 the Government of Puerto Rico shall continue to dis- 3 charge the duties of their respective offices con- 4 sistent with the United States Constitution, Federal 5 laws applicable to Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Con- 6 stitution, and the laws of the State of Puerto Rico. 7 (3) CONTINUITY OF LAWS.— 8 (A) TERRITORY LAW.—All of the territory 9 laws in force in Puerto Rico on the date of the 10 enactment of this Act shall— 11 (i) continue in force and effect in the 12 State, except as modified by this Act; and 13 (ii) be subject to repeal or amendment 14 by the legislature and the Governor of 15 Puerto Rico. 16 (B) FEDERAL LAW.—All of the laws of the 17 United States shall have the same force and ef- 18 fect as on the date immediately prior to the 19 date of admission of Puerto Rico into the Union 20 as a State, except for any provision of law that 21 treats Puerto Rico and its residents differently 22 than the States of the Union and their resi- 23 dents, which shall be amended as of the date of 24 admission to treat the State of Puerto Rico and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1965.IH H1965 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1965 IH its residents equally with the other States of the 1 Union and their residents. 2 (4) UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP.—No provi- 3 sion of this Act shall operate to confer United States 4 citizenship, nor terminate citizenship hereto lawfully 5 acquired, nor restore citizenship terminated or lost 6 under any law of the United States or under any 7 treaty to which the United States is or was a party. 8 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 9 If any provision of this Act, or any section, sub- 10 section, sentence, clause, phrase, or individual word, or the 11 application thereof to any person or circumstance is held 12 invalid, the validity of the remainder of the Act and of 13 the application of any such provision, section, subsection, 14 sentence, clause, phrase, or individual word to other per- 15 sons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1965.IH H1965 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS