Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner, Pedro Pierluisi, visited Florida and urged the many Puerto Ricans who live there to go to the polls in November. Caribbean Business reported that Pierluisi exhorted Floridians from Puerto Rico to be “a voice for the island.” Residents of Puerto Rico cannot vote in presidential elections, though they vote in presidential… Read more »
Posts Categorized: People
Pierluisi Calls for Equal Treatment for All American Citizens Regardless of Residency
Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner, Pedro Pierluisi, took to the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on May 17 to call for “equal treatment for all American citizens, regardless of where they reside.” Citing the territory’s ineligibility for core components of the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, Pierluisi asserted that the unequal… Read more »
Medicaid Cuts in the U.S. Territories
The Energy and Commerce Committee of the House of Representatives voted on April 25 to cut Medicaid funding in the U.S. territories by 65% while leaving Medicaid funding in the fifty states intact, providing a real life example of what it means to lack representation in Congress.
Santorum’s Misstep
Republican candidate Rick Santorum was busy wooing Puerto Rican voters in the primary when he remarked,“As in any other state, you have to comply with this and any federal law. And that is that English has to be the main language. There are other states with more than one language as is the case in… Read more »
Self Determination for Puerto Rico
Statements by National, State and Grassroots Leaders on the Need to Honor Self Determination for Puerto Rico The obligation of the United States to honor a Puerto Rican status choice has been recognized many, many times over the years, from presidents of the United States to local veterans groups, whose members historically stood together with… Read more »
Luis Fortuño Is A Proven Leader For Statehood, by Robert McCarroll
Originally published in the Puerto Rico Herald in 2005. Puerto Rico already has an outstanding leader for statehood. This proven leader for statehood is not Pedro Rosselló. It is Luis Fortuño, Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner.
An Issue for all Americans: Puerto Rican Self-Determination
Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. Its residents are United States citizens, but they have no voting rights or representation in the government that makes and implements their national laws, and they are not treated equally in federal programs. This unequal treatment violates the most basic principles of equal citizenship in the… Read more »
Puerto Rico is a Territory of the United States
The legal foundation of Puerto Rico’s status within the United States can be found in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, commonly known as the “Territorial Clause” — “The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging… Read more »
Can a Puerto Rican Become President Of The United States?
The answer to this broad question is, “maybe yes and maybe no.” As “statutory citizens,” the nearly four million Americans born in Puerto Rico might not be considered “natural born,” a Constitutional requirement to become President of the United States. Let’s look at a few cases!
Rep. Don Young
Rep. Don Young (R-AK), House Floor Statement upon the Introduction of H. Con. Res. 300, Expressing the Sense of Congress Regarding the Commonwealth Option Presented in the Puerto Rican Plebiscite, Friday, Sept. 30, 1994. [On the November 14, 1993 plebiscite ballot], [t]he people were presented a mythical commonwealth option which proposed significant changes to the… Read more »
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