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 selfdetermination, and to establish a mechanism for congressional consideration 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. 

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 Self-De5 termination Act of 2021’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 865 IS

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds as follows: 

3 (1) In 1898, the United States defeated the 

4 Spanish Kingdom in the Spanish-American War and 

5 acquired by conquest Puerto Rico, Guam, and the 

6 Philippines pursuant to the Treaty of Paris. 

7 (2) In 1900, Congress established a civilian 

8 government on the island through the Foraker Act. 

9 Among other points, that Act established an ‘‘execu10 tive council’’ consisting of various department heads 

11 and a presidentially appointed civilian governor. 

12 (3) The Foraker Act also established the Resi13 dent Commissioner position to represent island in14 terests in Congress. These duties came to include 

15 nonvoting service in the House of Representatives. 

16 (4) In 1901, the Supreme Court’s decisions in 

17 Downes v. Bidwell and its progeny held that for pur18 poses of the Constitution’s Uniformity Clause, Puer19 to Rico was not part of the United States and sub20 ject to the plenary powers of Congress, which in 

21 turn established a colonial relationship. Justice 

22 White, in concurrence, opined that Congress has dis23 cretion to decide whether and when to incorporate a 

24 territory into the United States. 

25 (5) Congress recognized Puerto Rico’s authority 

26 over matters of internal governance in 1950 with the 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 865 IS

1 passage of the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 

2 1950 (Public Law 81–600), providing for a constitu3 tional government for the island which was adopted 

4 by Congress as a compact for the people of Puerto 

5 Rico and the subsequent ratification of the island’s 

6 constitution in July 1952. 

7 (6) On November 18, 1953, the United Nations 

8 recognized Puerto Rico as a self-governing political 

9 entity under the United Nations General Assembly 

10 Resolution 748. 

11 (7) The political status of Puerto Rico is of sig12 nificant interest to communities both on and off the 

13 island, including diaspora groups that continue hav14 ing strong cultural ties and socioeconomic ties to 

15 Puerto Rico. 

16 (8) The United States has a legal duty to com17 ply with Article 1 of the International Covenant on 

18 Civil and Political Rights, which establishes that all 

19 peoples have the right to self-determination and ‘‘by 

20 virtue of that right they freely determine their polit21 ical status and freely pursue their economic, social 

22 and cultural development’’. 

23 (9) The status convention provides a delibera24 tive, comprehensive, and uninterrupted space of dia25 logue that can define the future of Puerto Rico. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 865 IS

1 SEC. 3. PUERTO RICO STATUS CONVENTION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The legislature of Puerto Rico has 

3 the inherent authority to call a status convention through 

4 an Act or Concurrent Resolution, constituted by a number 

5 of delegates to be determined in accordance with legisla6 tion approved by the Government of Puerto Rico, for the 

7 purpose of proposing to the people of Puerto Rico self8 determination options. A status convention called by the 

9 legislature of Puerto Rico shall— 

10 (1) be a semipermanent body that is dissolved 

11 only when the United States ratifies the self-deter12 mination option presented to Congress by the status 

13 convention as selected by the people of Puerto Rico 

14 in the referendum under section 5; and 

15 (2) consist of delegates elected by the voters of 

16 Puerto Rico in an election conducted according to 

17 the enabling legislation for the status convention as 

18 approved by the legislature of Puerto Rico. 

19 (b) PUBLIC FINANCING OF DELEGATE ELEC20 TIONS.— 

21 (1) FUND ESTABLISHED.—There is hereby es22 tablished in the Treasury of the United States a 

23 fund to be known as the ‘‘Puerto Rico Status Con24 vention Public Matching Fund’’ which shall be ad25 ministered by the Puerto Rico State Commission on 

26 Elections and subject to oversight by the Federal 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 865 IS

1 Election Commission. To the extent amounts are 

2 made available in the fund for this purpose, the 

3 Puerto Rico State Commission on Elections shall 

4 distribute amounts in the fund such that $4 is dis5 tributed to each candidate for delegate for every $1 

6 that the candidate receives as a campaign contribu7 tion that is— 

8 (A) less than $100; and 

9 (B) donated by a resident of Puerto Rico. 

10 (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR FUNDING.—To be eli11 gible to receive funds under this subsection, a can12 didate for delegate shall— 

13 (A) agree to increased financial oversight 

14 from the Federal Election Commission; 

15 (B) limit campaign spending to not more 

16 than $25,000; and 

17 (C) demonstrate a basic level of support 

18 from residents of Puerto Rico by receiving from 

19 residents of Puerto Rico not fewer than 50 do20 nations from 50 individuals of not more than 

21 $50. 

22 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE AMOUNTS.— Not more 

23 than 10 percent of amounts made available under 

24 paragraph (4) may be use for administrative costs of 

25 the Federal Election Commission. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 865 IS

1 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated and deposited 

3 into the Puerto Rico Status Convention Public 

4 Matching Fund to carry out this section $5,500,000. 

5 (c) DELEGATES.—Delegates elected under subsection 

6 (a)(2), in consultation with the Commission, shall— 

7 (1) debate and draft definitions on self-deter8 mination options for Puerto Rico, which shall be 

9 outside the Territorial Clause of the United States 

10 Constitution; 

11 (2) draft a least one accompanying transition 

12 plan for each self-determination option; and 

13 (3) select and present to the people of Puerto 

14 Rico the self-determination options that will be in15 cluded in the referendum under section 5. 

16 SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL BILATERAL NEGOTIATING COM17 MISSION. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Con19 gressional Bilateral Negotiating Commission (hereinafter 

20 referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) to provide advice and 

21 consultation to delegates elected under section 3(a)(2). 

22 (b) COMPOSITION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The members of the Com24 mission shall include— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 865 IS

1 (A) the chairs of the Committee on Nat2 ural Resources of the House of Representatives 

3 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re4 sources of the Senate; 

5 (B) the ranking members of the Com6 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of 

7 Representatives and the Committee on Energy 

8 and Natural Resources of the Senate; 

9 (C) one member selected by the majority 

10 leader of the House of Representatives; 

11 (D) one member selected by the minority 

12 leader of the House of Representatives; 

13 (E) one member selected by the majority 

14 leader of the Senate; 

15 (F) one member selected by the minority 

16 leader of the Senate; 

17 (G) the Resident Commissioner of Puerto 

18 Rico; 

19 (H) with the consent of the Speaker of the 

20 House of Representatives and majority leader 

21 of the Senate, a member from the Department 

22 of Justice; and 

23 (I) with the consent of the Speaker of the 

24 House of Representatives and majority leader 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 865 IS

1 of the Senate, a member from the Department 

2 of the Interior. 

3 (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS.— 

4 Members selected under subparagraphs (C) through 

5 (F) of paragraph (1) shall represent a State or dis6 trict in a State that, as determined by the most re7 cently publicly available data from the Bureau of the 

8 Census, represents one of the 10 States with the 

9 largest population of people who identified on the 

10 most recent Census as Puerto Rican. 

11 (c) DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS.—The Commission— 

12 (1) shall meet periodically with the delegates in 

13 Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, at the re14 quest of a majority of the delegates, with each meet15 ing required to include at least one delegate from 

16 each of the self-determination options; 

17 (2) shall have the authority to— 

18 (A) study; 

19 (B) make findings; 

20 (C) develop recommendations regarding 

21 self-determination options on constitutional 

22 issues and policies related to— 

23 (i) culture; 

24 (ii) language; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 865 IS

1 (iii) judicial and public education sys2 tems; 

3 (iv) taxes; and 

4 (v) United States citizenship; and 

5 (D) provide technical assistance and con6 stitutional advice to the delegates during the 

7 Puerto Rico status convention; 

8 (3) may hold public hearings in connection with 

9 any aspects of the convention at the request of the 

10 delegates or on its own; and 

11 (4) may receive testimony. 

12 (d) REPORTS.—The Commission shall— 

13 (1) not less than quarterly, provide status re14 ports, findings, and studies to the House of Rep15 resentatives and the Senate; 

16 (2) not less than once every 12 months, submit 

17 a status report to the House of Representatives and 

18 the Senate; and 

19 (3) make reports submitted under paragraph 

20 (2) available to the general public in widely acces21 sible formats in English and Spanish on the same 

22 day that such reports are submitted under para23 graph (2). 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 865 IS

1 SEC. 5. PUERTO RICO STATUS REFERENDUM; EDUCATION 

2 CAMPAIGN. 

3 (a) STRUCTURE AND PROCESS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—A referendum vote by the 

5 people of Puerto Rico— 

6 (A) may be conducted in a ranked-choice 

7 voting format in which voters rank choices by 

8 preference on their ballots without a limit on 

9 the number of choices ranked; 

10 (B) may consist of choices each composed 

11 of a self-determination definition and accom12 panying transition plan as presented by the del13 egates under section 3; and 

14 (C) may include more than one choice with 

15 the same self-determination definition, but a 

16 distinct accompanying transition plan as pre17 sented by the delegates under section 3. 

18 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 There is authorized to be appropriated the Puerto 

20 Rico State Commission on Elections, $2,500,000 to 

21 carry out a referendum vote under this subsection. 

22 (b) EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Delegates shall carry out an 

24 educational campaign through traditional paid media 

25 related to the referendum under subsection (a). 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 865 IS

1 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated the Puerto 

3 Rico State Commission on Elections, $5,000,000 to 

4 carry out an educational campaign under this sub5 section. The Federal Election Commission shall en6 sure that funds made available under this paragraph 

7 are divided equally among each self-determination 

8 option represented on the referendum held under 

9 this Act. 

10 (3) QUARTERLY CAMPAIGN REPORTS.—Each 

11 delegates shall submit quarterly campaign reports of 

12 the educational campaigns to the Federal Election 

13 Commission. 

14 SEC. 6. CONGRESSIONAL DELIBERATION AND ENACTING 

15 RESOLUTION. 

16 If the referendum under this Act is approved by the 

17 people of Puerto Rico, Congress shall approve a joint reso18 lution to ratify the preferred self-determination option ap19 proved in that referendum vote. If the Congress adjourns 

20 sine die before acting on the self-determination option, the 

21 Puerto Rico status convention created under this Act may 

22 meet again and send or resend a self-determination op23 tions to the following Congress. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
12 

•S 865 IS

1 SEC. 7. JOINT RESOLUTION. 

2 (a) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘joint resolution’’ means 

3 a joint resolution that is introduced within the 10-day pe4 riod beginning on the date when the results of the ref5 erendum are certified by Puerto Rico’s Commission on 

6 Elections. 

7 (b) REFERRAL.—A resolution described in subsection 

8 (a) that is introduced in the House of Representatives 

9 shall be referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

10 and in the Senate shall be referred to the Committee on 

11 Energy and Natural Resources. 

12 (c) DISCHARGE.—If the committee to which a resolu13 tion described in subsection (a) is referred has not re14 ported such resolution (or an identical resolution) by the 

15 end of the day period beginning on the day of certification 

16 of referendum results shall be, at the end of such period, 

17 discharged from further consideration of such resolution, 

18 and such resolution shall be placed on the appropriate cal19 endar of the body involved. 

20 (d) CONSIDERATION.—(1) On or after the third day 

21 after the date on which the committee to which such a 

22 resolution is referred has reported, or has been discharged 

23 (under subsection (c)) from further consideration of, such 

24 a resolution, it is in order (even though a previous motion 

25 to the same effect has been disagreed to) for any Member 

26 of the respective body to move to proceed to the considerVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S865.IS S865

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
13 

•S 865 IS

1 ation of the resolution. A Member may make the motion 

2 only on the day after the calendar day on which the Mem3 ber announces to the body concerned the Member’s inten4 tion to make the motion, except that, in the case of the 

5 House of Representatives, the motion may be made with6 out such prior announcement if the motion is made by 

7 direction of the committee to which the resolution was re8 ferred. All points of order against the resolution (and 

9 against consideration of the resolution) are waived. The 

10 motion is highly privileged in the House of Representatives 

11 and is privileged in the Senate and is not debatable. The 

12 motion is not subject to amendment, or to a motion to 

13 postpone, or to a motion to proceed to the consideration 

14 of other business. A motion to reconsider the vote by 

15 which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall not 

16 be in order. If a motion to proceed to the consideration 

17 of the resolution is agreed to, the respective body shall 

18 immediately proceed to consideration of the joint resolu19 tion without intervening motion, order, or other business, 

20 and the resolution shall remain the unfinished business of 

21 the respective body until disposed of. 

22 (2) Debate on the resolution, and on all debatable 

23 motions and appeals in connection therewith, shall be lim24 ited to not more than 2 hours, which shall be divided 

25 equally between those favoring and those opposing the resVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S865.IS S865

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
14 

•S 865 IS

1 olution. An amendment to the resolution is not in order. 

2 A motion further to limit debate is in order and not debat3 able. A motion to postpone, or a motion to proceed to the 

4 consideration of other business, or a motion to recommit 

5 the resolution is not in order. A motion to reconsider the 

6 vote by which the resolution is agreed to or disagreed to 

7 is not in order. 

8 (3) Immediately following the conclusion of the de9 bate on a resolution described in subsection (a) and a sin10 gle quorum call at the conclusion of the debate if re11 quested in accordance with the rules of the appropriate 

12 body, the vote on final passage of the resolution shall 

13 occur. 

14 (4) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating 

15 to the application of the rules of the Senate or the House 

16 of Representatives, as the case may be, to the procedure 

17 relating to a resolution described in subsection (a) shall 

18 be decided without debate. 

19 (e) CONSIDERATION BY OTHER BODY.—If, before 

20 the passage by one body of a resolution of that body de21 scribed in subsection (a), that body receives from the other 

22 body a resolution described in subsection (a), then the fol23 lowing procedures shall apply: 

24 (1) The resolution of the other body shall not 

25 be referred to a committee and may not be considVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S865.IS S865

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
15 

•S 865 IS

1 ered in the body receiving it except in the case of 

2 final passage as provided in subparagraph (B)(ii). 

3 (2) With respect to a resolution described in 

4 subsection (a) of the body receiving the resolution— 

5 (A) the procedure in that body shall be the 

6 same as if no resolution had been received from 

7 the other body; but 

8 (B) the vote on final passage shall be on 

9 the resolution of the other body. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS