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[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1965 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

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 Gonzalez-Colon 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Puerto Rico Admission Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the duly elected legislature of Puerto Rico passed 
        legislation to hold a plebiscite on the status of Puerto Rico, 
        which was enacted on June 11, 2017;
            (2) in that plebiscite, voters were given choices: 
        Statehood, Free Association/Independence, Current Territorial 
        Status;
            (3) that plebiscite was duly noticed and held on June 11, 
        2017 in accordance with all Puerto Rico and Federal laws;
            (4) that plebiscite was satisfactorily observed by a 
        bipartisan Congressional Delegation of Representative Don Young 
        and Representative Darren Soto; and
            (5) 97.2 percent of votes favored Statehood.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of the Act is to set forth the terms for the admission 
of the territory of Puerto Rico as a State of the Union.

SEC. 4. ADMISSION INTO THE UNION.

    (a) In General.--Subject to the provisions of this Act, upon 
issuance of the proclamation required by section 5, the State of Puerto 
Rico is declared to be a State of the United States of America, and is 
declared admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the other 
States in all respects whatever.
    (b) Constitution of State.--The State Constitution shall always be 
republican in form and shall not be repugnant to the United States 
Constitution and the principles of the Declaration of Independence. The 
current Puerto Rico Constitution is deemed to be republican in form and 
in conformity with the United States Constitution and is hereby 
accepted as the constitution of the State of Puerto Rico.

SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after enactment of this 
Act, the President shall issue a proclamation announcing that Puerto 
Rico is admitted into the Union on equal footing with other States in 
all respects.
    (b) Admission of State Upon Issuance of Proclamation.--Upon the 
issuance of the proclamation under subsection (a), the State shall be 
deemed admitted into the Union as provided in section 4.

SEC. 6. STATE OF PUERTO RICO.

    Upon the admission of Puerto Rico into the Union as a State, the 
following apply:
            (1) Territory.--The newly admitted State of Puerto Rico 
        shall consist of all its islands, together with the appurtenant 
        reefs and territorial waters in the seaward boundary, presently 
        under the jurisdiction of the territory of Puerto Rico.
            (2) Continuity of government.--Persons holding executive, 
        legislative, and judicial offices in the Government of Puerto 
        Rico shall continue to discharge the duties of their respective 
        offices consistent with the United States Constitution, Federal 
        laws applicable to Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Constitution, 
        and the laws of the State of Puerto Rico.
            (3) Continuity of laws.--
                    (A) Territory law.--All of the territory laws in 
                force in Puerto Rico on the date of the enactment of 
                this Act shall--
                            (i) continue in force and effect in the 
                        State, except as modified by this Act; and
                            (ii) be subject to repeal or amendment by 
                        the legislature and the Governor of Puerto 
                        Rico.
                    (B) Federal law.--All of the laws of the United 
                States shall have the same force and effect as on the 
                date immediately prior to the date of admission of 
                Puerto Rico into the Union as a State, except for any 
                provision of law that treats Puerto Rico and its 
                residents differently than the States of the Union and 
                their residents, which shall be amended as of the date 
                of admission to treat the State of Puerto Rico and its 
                residents equally with the other States of the Union 
                and their residents.
            (4) United states citizenship.--No provision of this Act 
        shall operate to confer United States citizenship, nor 
        terminate citizenship hereto lawfully acquired, nor restore 
        citizenship terminated or lost under any law of the United 
        States or under any treaty to which the United States is or was 
        a party.

SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act, or any section, subsection, sentence, 
clause, phrase, or individual word, or the application thereof to any 
person or circumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder 
of the Act and of the application of any such provision, section, 
subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or individual word to other 
persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
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