II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2020 

To set forth the process for Puerto Rico to be admitted as a State of 

the Union. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2014 

Mr. HEINRICH (for himself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To set forth the process for Puerto Rico to be admitted 

as a State of the Union. 

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 Status 

5 Resolution Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) in 1898, Puerto Rico became a United 

9 States territory and persons born in Puerto Rico 


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1 have been granted United States citizenship by law 

2 since March 2, 1917; 

3 (2) Puerto Rico has been granted authority 

4 over local matters that is similar to the authority 

5 that the several States possess, but Puerto Rico re6 mains subject to the powers of Congress under the 

7 Territory Clause of the Constitution of the United 

8 States; 

9 (3) the approximately 3,700,000 residents of 

10 Puerto Rico do not have a democratic form of gov11 ernment at the national level, because— 

12 (A) United States citizens residing in the 

13 territory— 

14 (i) are disenfranchised in the election 

15 for the President and the Vice President; 

16 and 

17 (ii) are not represented in the United 

18 States Senate; and 

19 (B) the 1 representative of United States 

20 citizens residing in the territory in the House of 

21 Representatives can only vote in committees of 

22 the House of Representatives; 

23 (4) the Federal Government may, and often 

24 does, treat Puerto Rico and residents of Puerto Rico 

25 unequally under Federal program, tax, and other 


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1 laws relative to the several States and the District 

2 of Columbia and residents; 

3 (5)(A) on November 6, 2012, the Government 

4 of Puerto Rico held a 2-part referendum; 

5 (B) the first question asked voters if Puerto 

6 Rico ‘‘should continue to have its present form of 

7 territorial status’’; and 

8 (C) of the 1,798,987 voters who chose an op9 tion, 53.97 percent voted against continued terri10 torial status; 

11 (6)(A) the second question asked voters to ex12 press their preference among the 3 possible alter13 natives to territorial status: statehood, independence, 

14 and nationhood in free association with the United 

15 States; and 

16 (B) of the 1,363,854 voters who chose an op17 tion, 61.16 percent voted for statehood; and 

18 (7) the number of votes cast in favor of state19 hood exceeded the number of votes cast in favor of 

20 continued territorial status. 

21 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

22 (1) to provide for a federally authorized ratifi23 cation vote in Puerto Rico on the admission of Puer24 to Rico into the Union as a State; and 


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1 (2) if a majority of voters ratify the desire of 

2 Puerto Rico for statehood, to describe the steps that 

3 the President and Congress shall take to enable the 

4 admission of Puerto Rico as a State of the Union. 

5 SEC. 3. RATIFICATION VOTE. 

6 The State Elections Commission of Puerto Rico is 

7 authorized to provide for a ratification vote on the admis8 sion of Puerto Rico into the Union as a State, in accord9 ance with rules and regulations determined by the Com10 mission, including qualifications for voter eligibility, with 

11 the following on the ballot: 

12 ‘‘As a State: 

13 ‘‘(A) Puerto Rico would be permanently 

14 united to the other States of the Union. 

15 ‘‘(B) All provisions of the Constitution of 

16 the United States that apply to the States 

17 would apply to Puerto Rico. 

18 ‘‘(C) Individuals born in Puerto Rico 

19 would be United States citizens by virtue of the 

20 Constitution of the United States, instead of by 

21 virtue of laws of the United States. 

22 ‘‘(D) Puerto Rico would be treated equally 

23 with the other States in all Federal laws of gen24 eral application. 


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1 ‘‘(E) There would be a period of transition 

2 to statehood, during which equal treatment of 

3 Puerto Rico in program and tax laws would be 

4 phased in. 

5 ‘‘(F) Puerto Rico would be represented— 

6 ‘‘(i) in the Senate by 2 Senators; 

7 ‘‘(ii) in the House of Representatives 

8 by a number of Representatives in propor9 tion to its share of the national population 

10 (and the number of Members of the House 

11 of Representatives would be increased by 

12 the same number); and 

13 ‘‘(iii) for the election of the President 

14 and the Vice President by a number of 

15 votes in the Electoral College equal to the 

16 number of its Senators and Representa17 tives. 

18 ‘‘(G) The Government of Puerto Rico, like 

19 the governments of the other States, would 

20 have permanent authority over all matters not 

21 delegated to the Federal Government or the 

22 people by the Constitution of the United States. 

23 Do you want Puerto Rico to be admitted as a State 

24 of the United States? Yesll Noll’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION. 

2 (a) PRESIDENTIAL ACTION.—If a majority of votes 

3 cast in the ratification vote held under section 3 are for 

4 the admission of Puerto Rico as a State of the Union, 

5 the President, not later than 180 days after the certifi6 cation of the vote, shall submit to Congress legislation to 

7 admit Puerto Rico as a State of the Union on an equal 

8 footing with the several States in all respects, consistent 

9 with the terms of this Act. 

10 (b) LEGISLATIVE ACTION.—If a majority of votes 

11 cast in the ratification vote held under section 3 are for 

12 the admission of Puerto Rico as a State of the Union, 

13 this Act constitutes a commitment by Congress to act, 

14 through legislation, to admit Puerto Rico as a State of 

15 the Union on an equal footing with the several States in 

16 all respects, consistent with the terms of this Act. 

Æ 


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