II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2661 

To provide for a plebiscite in Puerto Rico on the status of the territory. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 26, 2006 

Mr. MARTINEZ (for himself, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. CRAIG, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. HAGEL, Mr. CARPER, Mr. ALLARD, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mrs. CLINTON, and Mr. KERRY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for a plebiscite in Puerto Rico on the status 

of the territory. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Puerto Rico Democ5 racy Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) in the Memorandum on the Commonwealth 

9 of Puerto Rico (28 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 2324, 

10 dated November 30, 1992), President George H.W. 


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1 Bush recognized that ‘‘[a]s long as Puerto Rico is 

2 a territory . . . the will of its people regarding their 

3 political status should be ascertained periodically by 

4 means of a general right of referendum . . .’’; 

5 (2) consistent with this policy, in Executive 

6 Order No. 13183 (65 Fed. Reg. 82889), President 

7 William J. Clinton established the President’s Task 

8 Force on Puerto Rico’s Status to identify— 

9 (A) options for the territory’s future polit10 ical status ‘‘. . . that are not incompatible with 

11 the Constitution and basic laws and policies of 

12 the United States . . .’’; and 

13 (B) the process for realizing the identified 

14 options; 

15 (3) in Executive Order 13319 (68 Fed. Reg. 

16 68233), President George W. Bush amended Execu17 tive Order No. 13183 (65 Fed. Reg. 82889) to re18 quire that the President’s Task Force on Puerto 

19 Rico’s Status issue a report ‘‘. . . no less frequently 

20 than once every 2 years, on progress made in the de21 termination of Puerto Rico’s ultimate status.’’; and 

22 (4) on December 22, 2005, the Task Force ap23 pointed by President George W. Bush issued a re24 port recommending that not later than 1 year after 

25 the date on which the report was published, ConVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:00 Apr 28, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2661.IS S2661

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1 gress should provide for a federally sanctioned plebi2 scite in which the people of Puerto Rico would be 

3 asked to vote on whether the people opt to— 

4 (A) remain a United States territory; or 

5 (B) pursue a constitutionally viable path 

6 toward a permanent nonterritorial status with 

7 the United States. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

11 means the Puerto Rico State Elections Commission. 

12 (2) COMMONWEALTH.—The term ‘‘Common13 wealth’’ means the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

14 (3) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘‘Task Force’’ 

15 means the President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s 

16 Status. 

17 SEC. 4. FEDERALLY SANCTIONED PROCESS FOR PUERTO 

18 RICO’S SELF-DETERMINATION. 

19 (a) PLEBISCITE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—During the 110th Congress, 

21 but not later than December 31, 2007, the Commis22 sion shall conduct a plebiscite in the Commonwealth, 

23 the ballot of which shall provide for voters to choose 

24 only 1 of the following options: 


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1 (A) ‘‘The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico 

2 should continue to be a territory of the United 

3 States. If you agree, mark herellll.’’. 

4 (B) ‘‘The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico 

5 should pursue a path toward permanent non6 territory status. If you agree, mark here 

7 llllll. ’’. 

8 (2) RULES AND REGULATIONS.—The Commis9 sion shall issue any rules and regulations necessary 

10 to conduct the plebiscite under this subsection. 

11 (3) CERTIFICATION OF RESULTS.—The Com12 mission shall certify the results of the plebiscite con13 ducted under this subsection to the President and 

14 Congress. 

15 (b) FEDERAL COURT JURISDICTION.—The Federal 

16 courts of the United States shall have exclusive jurisdic17 tion over any legal claim or controversy arising from the 

18 implementation of this Act. 

19 SEC. 5. AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR THE SELF-DETER20 MINATION PROCESS. 

21 (a) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS DERIVED FROM TAX

22 ON FOREIGN RUM.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—During the period beginning 

24 on October 1, 2006, and ending on the date on 

25 which the results of the plebiscite have been certified 


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1 under section 4(a)(3), the Secretary of the Treasury 

2 shall allocate to the Commission, from amounts that 

3 would otherwise be covered into the treasury of the 

4 Commonwealth under section 7652(e)(1) of the In5 ternal Revenue Code of 1986, not more than 

6 $5,000,000 to pay the costs incurred by the Com7 mission in conducting the plebiscite, as determined 

8 under paragraph (2). 

9 (2) DETERMINATION BY THE TASK FORCE.— 

10 The amount needed to cover the costs of the plebi11 scite shall be determined by the Task Force. 

12 (b) USE OF FUNDS FOR EDUCATIONAL AND OTHER

13 MATERIALS.—The amounts made available to the Com14 mission under subsection (a)(1) may be used for the cost 

15 of voter education materials if the content of the materials 

16 has been certified by the Task Force as not being incom17 patible with the Constitution or any Federal laws or poli18 cies. 

Æ 


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