I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4281

To provide a process leading to full self-government for Puerto Rico.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 28, 1996

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska (for himself, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, and Mr.

GALLEGLY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a

period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To provide a process leading to full self-government for

Puerto Rico.

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘United States-Puerto Rico Political Status Act’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.

Sec. 2. Findings.

Sec. 3. Policy.
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Sec. 4. Process for Puerto Rican full self-government, including the initial decision stage, transition stage, and implementation stage.

Sec. 5. Requirements relating to referenda, including inconclusive referendum

and applicable laws.

Sec. 6. Congressional procedures for consideration of legislation.

Sec. 7. Availability of funds for the referenda.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds the following:

3 (1) Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States

4 and came under this Nation’s sovereignty pursuant

5 to the Treaty of Paris ending the Spanish-American

6 War in 1898. Article IX of the Treaty of Paris ex7 pressly recognizes the authority of Congress to pro8 vide for the political status of the inhabitants of the

9 territory.

10 (2) Consistent with establishment of United

11 States nationality for inhabitants of Puerto Rico

12 under the Treaty of Paris, Congress has exercised

13 its powers under the Territorial Clause of the Con14 stitution (article IV, section 3, clause 2) to provide

15 by statute for the citizenship status of persons born

16 in Puerto Rico, including extension of special statu17 tory United States citizenship from 1917 to the

18 present.

19 (3) Consistent with the Territorial Clause and

20 rulings of the United States Supreme Court, partial

21 application of the United States Constitution has
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1 been established in the unincorporated territories of

2 the United States including Puerto Rico.

3 (4) In 1950 Congress prescribed a procedure

4 for instituting internal self-government for Puerto

5 Rico pursuant to statutory authorization for a local

6 constitution. A local constitution was approved by

7 the people, amended and conditionally approved by

8 Congress, and thereupon given effect in 1952 after

9 acceptance of congressional conditions by the Puerto

10 Rico Constitutional Convention and an appropriate

11 proclamation by the Governor. The approved con12 stitution established the structure for constitutional

13 government in respect of internal affairs without al14 tering Puerto Rico’s fundamental political, social,

15 and economic relationship with the United States

16 and without restricting the authority of Congress

17 under the Territorial Clause to determine the appli18 cation of Federal law to Puerto Rico, resulting in

19 the present ‘‘Commonwealth’’ structure for local

20 self-government. The Commonwealth remains an un21 incorporated territory and does not have the status

22 of ‘‘free association’’ with the United States as that

23 status is defined under United States law or inter24 national practice.
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1 (5) In 1953 the United States transmitted to

2 the Secretary-General of the United Nations for cir3 culation to its Members a formal notification that

4 the United States no longer would transmit informa5 tion regarding Puerto Rico to the United Nations

6 pursuant to Article 73(e) of its Charter. The formal

7 United States notification document informed the

8 United Nations that the cessation of information on

9 Puerto Rico was based on the ‘‘new constitutional

10 arrangements’’ in the territory, and the United

11 States expressly defined the scope of the ‘‘full meas12 ure’’ of local self-government in Puerto Rico as ex13 tending to matters of ‘‘internal government and ad14 ministration, subject only to compliance with appli15 cable provisions of the Federal Constitution, the

16 Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act and the acts of

17 Congress authorizing and approving the Constitu18 tion, as may be interpreted by judicial decision.’’.

19 Thereafter, the General Assembly of the United Na20 tions, based upon consent of the inhabitants of the

21 territory and the United States explanation of the

22 new status as approved by Congress, adopted Reso23 lution 748 (VIII) by a vote of 22 to 18 with 19 ab24 stentions, thereby accepting the United States deter-
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1 mination to cease reporting to the United Nations

2 on the status of Puerto Rico.

3 (6) In 1960 the United Nations General Assem4 bly approved Resolution 1541 (XV), clarifying that

5 under United Nations standards regarding the polit6 ical status options available to the people of terri7 tories yet to complete the process for achieving full

8 self-government, the three established forms of full

9 self-government are national independence, free as10 sociation based on separate sovereignty, or full inte11 gration with another nation on the basis of equality.

12 (7) The ruling of the United States Supreme

13 Court in the 1980 case Harris v. Rosario (446 U.S.

14 651) confirmed that Congress continues to exercise

15 authority over Puerto Rico as territory ‘‘belonging to

16 the United States’’ pursuant to the Territorial

17 Clause found at Article IV, section 3, clause 2 of the

18 United States Constitution, a judicial interpretation

19 of Puerto Rico’s status which is in accordance with

20 the clear intent of Congress that establishment of

21 local constitutional government in 1952 did not alter

22 Puerto Rico’s status as an unincorporated United

23 States territory.

24 (8) In a joint letter dated January 17, 1989,

25 cosigned by the Governor of Puerto Rico in his ca-
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1 pacity as president of one of Puerto Rico’s principal

2 political parties and the presidents of the two other

3 principal political parties of Puerto Rico, the United

4 States was formally advised that ‘‘. . . the People of

5 Puerto Rico wish to be consulted as to their pref6 erence with regards to their ultimate political sta7 tus’’, and the joint letter stated ‘‘. . . that since

8 Puerto Rico came under the sovereignty of the Unit9 ed States of America through the Treaty of Paris

10 in 1898, the People of Puerto Rico have not been

11 formally consulted by the United States of America

12 as to their choice of their ultimate political status’’.

13 (9) In the 1989 State of the Union Message,

14 President George Bush urged the Congress to take

15 the necessary steps to authorize a federally recog16 nized process allowing the people of Puerto Rico, for

17 the first time since the Treaty of Paris entered into

18 force, to freely express their wishes regarding their

19 future political status in a congressionally recognized

20 referendum, a step in the process of self-determina21 tion which the Congress has yet to authorize.

22 (10) In November of 1993, the Government of

23 Puerto Rico conducted a plebiscite initiated under

24 local law on Puerto Rico’s political status. In that

25 vote none of the three status propositions received a
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1 majority of the votes cast. The results of that vote

2 were: 48.6 percent commonwealth, 46.3 percent

3 statehood, and 4.4 percent independence.

4 (11) In 1994, President William Jefferson Clin5 ton established the Executive Branch Interagency

6 Working Group on Puerto Rico to coordinate the re7 view, development, and implementation of executive

8 branch policy concerning issues affecting Puerto

9 Rico, including the November 1993 plebiscite.

10 (12) There have been inconsistent and conflict11 ing interpretations of the 1993 plebiscite results,

12 and under the Territorial Clause of the Constitution,

13 Congress has the authority and responsibility to de14 termine Federal policy and clarify status issues in

15 order to advance the self-determination process in

16 Puerto Rico.

17 (13) On December 14, 1994, the Puerto Rico

18 Legislature enacted Concurrent Resolution 62, which

19 requested the 104th Congress to respond to the re20 sults of the 1993 Puerto Rico Status Plebiscite and

21 to indicate the next steps in resolving Puerto Rico’s

22 political status.

23 (14) Nearly 4,000,000 United States citizens

24 live in the islands of Puerto Rico, which have been

25 under United States sovereignty and within the
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1 United States customs territory for almost 100

2 years, making Puerto Rico the oldest, largest, and

3 most populous United States island territory at the

4 southeastern-most boundary of our Nation, located

5 astride the strategic shipping lanes of the Atlantic

6 Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

7 (15) Full self-government for Puerto Rico is at8 tainable only through establishment of a political

9 status which is based on either separate Puerto

10 Rican sovereignty and nationality or full and equal

11 United States nationality and citizenship through

12 membership in the Union and under which Puerto

13 Rico is no longer an unincorporated territory subject

14 to the plenary authority of Congress arising from

15 the Territorial Clause.

16 SEC. 3. POLICY.

17 (a) CONGRESSIONAL COMMITMENT.—In recognition

18 of the significant level of local self-government which has

19 been attained by Puerto Rico, and the responsibility of the

20 Federal Government to enable the people of the territory

21 to freely express their wishes regarding political status and

22 achieve full self-government, this Act is adopted with a

23 commitment to encourage the development and implemen24 tation of procedures through which the permanent politi25 cal status of the people of Puerto Rico can be determined.
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1 (b) OFFICIAL LANGUAGE.—It is the policy of the

2 Congress that English shall be the common language of

3 mutual understanding in the United States, and that this

4 policy shall apply in all of the States duly and freely ad5 mitted to the Union. The Congress recognizes that at the

6 present time, Spanish and English are the joint official

7 languages of Puerto Rico, and have been for nearly 100

8 years; that English is the official language of Federal

9 courts in Puerto Rico; that the ability to speak English

10 is a requirement for Federal jury services; yet Spanish

11 rather than English is currently the predominant language

12 used by the majority of the people of Puerto Rico; and

13 that Congress has the authority to expand existing Eng14 lish language requirements in the Commonwealth of Puer15 to Rico. In the event that the referenda held under this

16 Act result in approval of sovereignty leading to Statehood,

17 it is anticipated that upon accession to Statehood, English

18 would become the official language of the Federal Govern19 ment in Puerto Rico to the same extent as Federal law

20 then requires throughout the United States. Congress also

21 recognizes the significant advantage that proficiency in

22 Spanish as well as English has bestowed on the people

23 of Puerto Rico, and further that this will serve the best

24 interests of both Puerto Rico and the rest of the United
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1 States in our mutual dealings in the Caribbean, Latin

2 America, and throughout the Spanish-speaking world.

3 SEC. 4. PROCESS FOR PUERTO RICAN FULL SELF-GOVERN4 MENT, INCLUDING THE INITIAL DECISION

5 STAGE, TRANSITION STAGE, AND IMPLEMEN6 TATION STAGE.

7 (a) INITIAL DECISION STAGE.—A referendum on

8 Puerto Rico’s political status shall be held not later than

9 December 31, 1998. The referendum shall be held pursu10 ant to this Act and in accordance with the applicable pro11 visions of Puerto Rico’s electoral law and other relevant

12 statutes consistent with this Act. Approval of a status op13 tion must be by a majority of the valid votes cast. The

14 referendum shall be on the approval of 1 of the 3 options

15 presented on the ballot as follows:

16 ‘‘Instructions: Mark the status option you choose as

17 each is defined below. Ballot with more than 1 option

18 marked will not be counted.

19 ‘‘A. COMMONWEALTH.—If you agree, mark here

20 lll

21 ‘‘Puerto Rico should retain Commonwealth, in

22 which—

23 ‘‘(1) Puerto Rico continues the present Com24 monwealth structure for self government with re25 spect to internal affairs and administration;
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1 ‘‘(2) provisions of the Constitution and laws of

2 the United States apply to Puerto Rico as deter3 mined by Congress;

4 ‘‘(3) Puerto Rico remains a locally self-govern5 ing unincorporated territory of the United States;

6 ‘‘(4) continuation or modification of current

7 Federal law and policy applicable to Puerto Rico re8 mains within the discretion of Congress; and

9 ‘‘(5) the ultimate status of Puerto Rico will be

10 determined through a process authorized by Con11 gress which includes self determination by the people

12 of Puerto Rico in periodic referenda.

13 ‘‘B. SEPARATE SOVEREIGNTY.—If you agree, mark

14 here lll

15 ‘‘Puerto Rico should become fully self governing

16 through separate sovereignty leading to independence or

17 free association, in which—

18 ‘‘(1) Puerto Rico is a sovereign nation with full

19 authority and responsibility for its internal and ex20 ternal affairs and has the capacity to exercise in its

21 own name and right the powers of government with

22 respect to its territory and population;

23 ‘‘(2) a negotiated treaty of friendship and co24 operation, or an international bilateral pact of free

25 association terminable at will by either Puerto Rico
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1 or the United States, defines future relations be2 tween Puerto Rico and the United States, providing

3 for cooperation and assistance in matters of shared

4 interest as agreed and approved by Puerto Rico and

5 the United States pursuant to this Act and their re6 spective constitutional processes;

7 ‘‘(3) a constitution democratically instituted by

8 the people of Puerto Rico, establishing a republican

9 form of full self-government and securing the rights

10 of citizens of the Puerto Rican nation, is the su11 preme law, and the Constitution and laws of the

12 United States no longer apply in Puerto Rico;

13 ‘‘(4) The people of Puerto Rico owe allegiance

14 to the sovereign nation of Puerto Rico and have the

15 nationality, and citizenship thereof; United States

16 sovereignty, nationality, and citizenship in Puerto

17 Rico is ended; birth in Puerto Rico and relationship

18 to persons with statutory United States citizenship

19 by birth in the former territory are not bases for

20 United States nationality or citizenship, except that

21 persons who had such United States citizenship have

22 a statutory right to retain United States nationality

23 and citizenship for life, by entitlement or election as

24 provided by the United States Congress, based on

25 continued allegiance to the United States: Provided,
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1 That such persons will not have this statutory Unit2 ed States nationality and citizenship status upon

3 having or maintaining allegiance, nationality, and

4 citizenship rights in any sovereign nation other than

5 the United States;

6 ‘‘(5) upon recognition of Puerto Rico by the

7 United States as a sovereign nation and establish8 ment of government-to-government relations on the

9 basis of comity and reciprocity, Puerto Rico’s rep10 resentation to the United States is accorded full dip11 lomatic status;

12 ‘‘(6) Puerto Rico is eligible for United States

13 assistance provided on a government-to-government

14 basis, including foreign aid or programmatic assist15 ance, at levels subject to agreement by the United

16 States and Puerto Rico;

17 ‘‘(7) property rights and previously acquired

18 rights vested by employment under laws of Puerto

19 Rico or the United States are honored, and where

20 determined necessary such rights are promptly ad21 justed and settled consistent with government-to22 government agreements implementing the separation

23 of sovereignty; and
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1 ‘‘(8) Puerto Rico is outside the customs terri2 tory of the United States, and trade between the

3 United States and Puerto Rico is based on a treaty.

4 ‘‘C. STATEHOOD.—If you agree, mark here lll

5 ‘‘Puerto Rico should become fully self governing

6 through United States sovereignty leading to Statehood,

7 in which—

8 ‘‘(1) the people of Puerto Rico are fully self9 governing with their rights secured under the United

10 States Constitution, which is the supreme law and

11 has the same force and effect as in the other States

12 of the Union;

13 ‘‘(2) the sovereign State of Puerto Rico is in

14 permanent union with the United States, and powers

15 not delegated to the Federal Government or prohib16 ited to the States by the United States Constitution

17 are reserved to the people of Puerto Rico or the

18 State Government;

19 ‘‘(3) United States citizenship of those born in

20 Puerto Rico is guaranteed, protected and secured in

21 the same way it is for all United States citizens born

22 in the other States;

23 ‘‘(4) residents of Puerto Rico have equal rights

24 and benefits as well as equal duties and responsibil-
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1 ities of citizenship, including payment of Federal

2 taxes, as those in the several States;

3 ‘‘(5) Puerto Rico is represented by two mem4 bers in the United States Senate and is represented

5 in the House of Representatives proportionate to the

6 population;

7 ‘‘(6) United States citizens in Puerto Rico are

8 enfranchised to vote in elections for the President

9 and Vice President of the United States; and

10 ‘‘(7) English is the official language of business

11 and communication in Federal courts and Federal

12 agencies as made applicable by Federal law to every

13 other State, and Puerto Rico is enabled to expand

14 and build upon existing law establishing English as

15 an official language of the State government, courts,

16 and agencies.’’.

17 (b) TRANSITION STAGE.—

18 (1) PLAN.—(A) Within 180 days of the receipt

19 of the results of the referendum from the Govern20 ment of Puerto Rico certifying approval of a ballot

21 choice of full self-government in a referendum held

22 pursuant to subsection (a), the President shall de23 velop and submit to Congress legislation for a tran24 sition plan of 10 years minimum which leads to full

25 self-government for Puerto Rico consistent with the
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1 terms of this Act and in consultation with officials

2 of the three branches of the Government of Puerto

3 Rico, the principal political parties of Puerto Rico,

4 and other interested persons as may be appropriate.

5 (B) Additionally, in the event of a vote in favor

6 of separate sovereignty, the Legislature of Puerto

7 Rico, if deemed appropriate, may provide by law for

8 the calling of a constituent convention to formulate,

9 in accordance with procedures prescribed by law,

10 Puerto Rico’s proposals and recommendations to im11 plement the referendum results. If a convention is

12 called for this purpose, any proposals and rec13 ommendations formally adopted by such convention

14 within time limits of this Act shall be transmitted to

15 Congress by the President with the transition plan

16 required by this section, along with the views of the

17 President regarding the compatibility of such pro18 posals and recommendations with the United States

19 Constitution and this Act, and identifying which, if

20 any, of such proposals and recommendations have

21 been addressed in the President’s proposed transi22 tion plan.

23 (C) Additionally, in the event of a vote in favor

24 of United States sovereignty leading to Statehood,

25 the President shall include in the transition plan
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1 provided for in this Act, proposals and incentives to

2 increase the opportunities of the people of Puerto

3 Rico to learn to speak, read, write, and understand

4 English fully, including but not limited to, the teach5 ing of English in public schools, fellowships, and

6 scholarships. The transition plan should promote the

7 usage of English by the United States citizens of

8 Puerto Rico, in order to best allow for—

9 (i) the enhancement of the century old

10 practice of English as an official language of

11 Puerto Rico, consistent with the preservation of

12 our Nation’s unity in diversity and the preven13 tion of divisions along linguistic lines;

14 (ii) the use of language skills necessary to

15 contribute most effectively to the Nation in all

16 aspects, including but not limited to Hemi17 spheric trade, and for citizens to enjoy the full

18 rights and benefits of their citizenship;

19 (iii) the promotion of efficiency and fair20 ness to all people in the conduct of the Federal

21 and State government’s official business; and

22 (iv) the ability of all citizens to take full

23 advantage of the economical, educational, and

24 occupational opportunities through full integra25 tion with the United States.
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1 (2) CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION.—The

2 plan shall be considered by the Congress in accord3 ance with section 6.

4 (3) PUERTO RICAN APPROVAL.—

5 (A) Not later than 180 days after enact6 ment of an Act pursuant to paragraph (1) pro7 viding for the transition to full self-government

8 for Puerto Rico as approved in the initial deci9 sion referendum held under subsection (a), a

10 referendum shall be held under the applicable

11 provisions of Puerto Rico’s electoral law on the

12 question of approval of the transition plan.

13 (B) Approval must be by a majority of the

14 valid votes cast. The results of the referendum

15 shall be certified to the President of the United

16 States.

17 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE FOR TRANSITION PLAN.—

18 The President of the United States shall issue a

19 proclamation announcing the effective date of the

20 transition plan to full self-government for Puerto

21 Rico.

22 (c) IMPLEMENTATION STAGE.—

23 (1) PRESIDENTIAL RECOMMENDATION.—Not

24 less than two years prior to the end of the period

25 of the transition provided for in the transition plan
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1 approved under subsection (b), the President shall

2 submit to Congress legislation with a recommenda3 tion for the implementation of full self-government

4 for Puerto Rico consistent with the ballot choice ap5 proved under subsection (a).

6 (2) CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION.—The

7 plan shall be considered by the Congress in accord8 ance with section 6.

9 (3) PUERTO RICAN APPROVAL.—

10 (A) Within 180 days after enactment of

11 the terms of implementation for full self-govern12 ment for Puerto Rico, a referendum shall be

13 held under the applicable provisions of Puerto

14 Rico’s electoral laws on the question of the ap15 proval of the terms of implementation for full

16 self-government for Puerto Rico.

17 (B) Approval must be by a majority of the

18 valid votes cast. The results of the referendum

19 shall be certified to the President of the United

20 States.

21 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE OF FULL SELF-GOVERN22 MENT.—The President of the United States shall

23 issue a proclamation announcing the date of imple24 mentation of full self-government for Puerto Rico.
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1 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO REFERENDA, IN2 CLUDING INCONCLUSIVE REFERENDUM AND

3 APPLICABLE LAWS.

4 (a) APPLICABLE LAWS.—

5 (1) REFERENDA UNDER PUERTO RICAN

6 LAWS.—The referenda held under this Act shall be

7 conducted in accordance with the applicable laws of

8 Puerto Rico, including laws of Puerto Rico under

9 which voter eligibility is determined and which re10 quire United States citizenship and establish other

11 statutory requirements for voter eligibility of resi12 dents and nonresidents.

13 (2) FEDERAL LAWS.—The Federal laws appli14 cable to the election of the Resident Commissioner

15 of Puerto Rico shall, as appropriate and consistent

16 with this Act, also apply to the referenda. Any ref17 erence in such Federal laws to elections shall be con18 sidered, as appropriate, to be a reference to the

19 referenda, unless it would frustrate the purposes of

20 this Act.

21 (b) CERTIFICATION OF REFERENDA RESULTS.—The

22 results of each referendum held under this Act shall be

23 certified to the President of the United States and the

24 Senate and House of Representatives of the United States

25 by the Government of Puerto Rico.
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1 (c) CONSULTATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IN2 CONCLUSIVE REFERENDUM.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—If a referendum provided in

4 section 4(b) or (c) of this Act does not result in ap5 proval of a fully self-governing status, the President,

6 in consultation with officials of the three branches of

7 the Government of Puerto Rico, the principal politi8 cal parties of Puerto Rico, and other interested per9 sons as may be appropriate, shall make rec10 ommendations to the Congress within 180 days of

11 receipt of the results of the referendum.

12 (2) EXISTING STRUCTURE TO REMAIN IN EF13 FECT.—If the inhabitants of the territory do not

14 achieve full self-governance through either integra15 tion into the Union or separate sovereignty in the

16 form of independence or free association, Puerto

17 Rico will remain an unincorporated territory of the

18 United States, subject to the authority of Congress

19 under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 of the United

20 States Constitution. In that event, the existing Com21 monwealth of Puerto Rico structure for local self22 government will remain in effect, subject to such

23 other measures as may be adopted by Congress in

24 the exercise of it’s Territorial Clause powers to de-
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1 termine the disposition of the territory and status of

2 it’s inhabitants.

3 (3) AUTHORITY OF CONGRESS TO DETERMINE

4 STATUS.—Since current unincorporated territory

5 status of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is not

6 a permanent, unalterable or guaranteed status under

7 the Constitution of the United States, Congress re8 tains plenary authority and responsibility to deter9 mine a permanent status for Puerto Rico consistent

10 with the national interest. The Congress historically

11 has recognized a commitment to take into consider12 ation the freely expressed wishes of the people of

13 Puerto Rico regarding their future political status.

14 This policy is consistent with respect for the right of

15 self-determination in areas which are not fully self16 governing, but does not constitute a legal restriction

17 or binding limitation on the Territorial Clause pow18 ers of Congress to determine a permanent status of

19 Puerto Rico. Nor does any such restriction or limita20 tion arise from the Puerto Rico Federal Relations

21 Act (48 U.S.C. 731 et seq.).

22 (4) ADDITIONAL REFERENDA.—To ensure that

23 the Congress is able on a continuing basis to exer24 cise its Territorial Clause powers with due regard

25 for the wishes of the people of Puerto Rico respect-
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1 ing resolution of Puerto Rico’s permanent future po2 litical status, in the event that a referendum con3 ducted under section four is inconclusive as provided

4 in this subsection, or a majority vote to continue the

5 Commonwealth structure as a territory, there shall

6 be another referendum in accordance with this Act

7 prior to the expiration of a period of four years from

8 the date such inconclusive results are certified or de9 termined. This procedure shall be repeated every

10 four years, but not in a general election year, until

11 Puerto Rico’s unincorporated territory status is ter12 minated in favor of a recognized form of full self13 government in accordance with this Act.

14 SEC. 6. CONGRESSIONAL PROCEDURES FOR CONSIDER15 ATION OF LEGISLATION.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The majority leader of the House

17 of Representatives (or his designee) and the majority lead18 er of the Senate (or his designee) shall each introduce leg19 islation (by request) providing for the transition plan

20 under section 4(b) and the implementation recommenda21 tion under section 4(c) not later than 5 legislative days

22 after the date of receipt by Congress of the submission

23 by the President under that section, as the case may be.

24 (b) REFERRAL.—The legislation shall be referred on

25 the date of introduction to the appropriate committee or
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1 committees in accordance with rules of the respective

2 Houses. The legislation shall be reported not later than

3 the 120th calendar day after the date of its introduction.

4 If any such committee fails to report the bill within that

5 period, that committee shall be automatically discharged

6 from consideration of the legislation, and the legislation

7 shall be placed on the appropriate calendar.

8 (c) CONSIDERATION.—

9 (1) After the 14th legislative day after the date

10 on which the last committee of the House of Rep11 resentatives or the Senate, as the case may be, has

12 reported or been discharged from further consider13 ation of such legislation, it is in order after the legis14 lation has been on the calendar for 14 legislative

15 days for any Member of that House in favor of the

16 legislation to move to proceed to the consideration of

17 the legislation (after consultation with the presiding

18 officer of that House as to scheduling) to move to

19 proceed to its consideration at any time after the

20 third legislative day on which the Member announces

21 to the respective House concerned the Member’s in22 tention to do so. All points of order against the mo23 tion to proceed and against consideration of that

24 motion are waived. The motion is highly privileged

25 in the House of Representatives and is privileged in
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1 the Senate and is not debatable. The motion is not

2 subject to amendment, or to a motion to postpone,

3 or to a motion to proceed to the consideration of

4 other business. A motion to reconsider the vote by

5 which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall

6 not be in order. If a motion to proceed to the consid7 eration of the legislation is agreed to, the respective

8 House shall immediately proceed to consideration of

9 the legislation without intervening motion (exception

10 one motion to adjourn), order, or other business.

11 (2)(A) In the House of Representatives, during

12 consideration of the legislation in the Committee of

13 the Whole, the first reading of the legislation shall

14 be dispensed with. General debate shall be confined

15 to the legislation, and shall not exceed 4 hours

16 equally divided and controlled by a proponent and

17 an opponent of the legislation. After general debate,

18 the legislation shall be considered as read for

19 amendment under the five-minute rule. Consider20 ation of the legislation for amendment shall not ex21 ceed 4 hours excluding time for recorded votes and

22 quorum calls. At the conclusion of the bill for

23 amendment, the Committee shall rise and report the

24 bill to the House with such amendments as may

25 have been adopted. The previous question shall be
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1 considered as ordered on the legislation and amend2 ments thereto to final passage without intervening

3 motion, except one motion to recommit with or with4 out instructions. A motion to reconsider the vote on

5 passage of the legislation shall not be in order.

6 (B) In the Senate, debate on the legislation,

7 and all amendments thereto and debatable motions

8 and appeals in connection therewith, shall be limited

9 to not more than 25 hours. The time shall be equally

10 divided between, and controlled by, the majority

11 leader and the minority leader or their designees. No

12 amendment that is not germane to the provisions of

13 such legislation shall be received. A motion to fur14 ther limit debate is not debatable.

15 (3) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair re16 lating to the application of the rules of the Senate

17 or the House of Representatives, as the case may be,

18 to the procedure relating to the legislation described

19 in subsection (a) shall be decided without debate.

20 (d) CONSIDERATION BY OTHER HOUSE.—(1) If, be21 fore the passage by one House of the legislation described

22 in subsection (a) that was introduced in that House, that

23 House receives from the other House the legislation de24 scribed in subsection (a)—
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1 (A) the legislation of the other House shall not

2 be referred to a committee and may not be consid3 ered in the House that receives it otherwise than on

4 final passage under subparagraph (B)(ii) or (iii);

5 and

6 (B)(i) the procedure in the House that receives

7 such legislation with respect to such legislation that

8 was introduced in that House shall be the same as

9 if no legislation had been received from the other

10 House; but

11 (ii) in the case of legislation received from the

12 other House that is identical to the legislation as en13 grossed by the receiving House, the vote on final

14 passage shall be on the legislation of the other

15 House; or

16 (iii) after passage of the legislation, the legisla17 tion of the other House shall be considered as

18 amended with the text of the legislation just passed

19 and shall be considered as passed, and that House

20 shall be considered to have insisted on its amend21 ment and requested a conference with the other

22 House.

23 (2) Upon disposition of the legislation described

24 in subsection (a) that is received by one House from

25 the other House, it shall no longer be in order to
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1 consider such legislation that was introduced in the

2 receiving House.

3 (e) Upon receiving from the other House a message

4 in which that House insists upon its amendment to the

5 legislation and requests a conference with the House of

6 Representatives or the Senate, as the case may be, on the

7 disagreeing votes thereon, the House receiving the request

8 shall be considered to have disagreed to the amendment

9 of the other House and agreed to the conference requested

10 by that House.

11 (f) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this section,

12 the term ‘‘legislative day’’ means a day on which the

13 House of Representatives or the Senate, as appropriate,

14 is in session.

15 (g) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWER.—The provi16 sions of this section are enacted by the Congress—

17 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of

18 the Senate and the House of Representatives and, as

19 such, shall be considered as part of the rules of each

20 House and shall supersede other rules only to the

21 extent that they are inconsistent therewith; and

22 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional

23 right of either House to change the rules (so far as

24 they relate to the procedures of that House) at any
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1 time, in the same manner, and to the same extent

2 as in the case of any other rule of that House.

3 SEC. 7. AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR THE REFERENDA.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—

5 (1) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS DERIVED FROM

6 TAX ON FOREIGN RUM.—During the period begin7 ning on October 1, 1996, and ending on the date the

8 President determines that all referenda required by

9 this Act have been held, from the amounts covered

10 into the treasury of Puerto Rico under section

11 7652(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,

12 the Secretary of the Treasury—

13 (A) upon request and in the amounts iden14 tified from time to time by the President, shall

15 make the amounts so identified available to the

16 treasury of Puerto Rico for the purposes speci17 fied in subsection (b); and

18 (B) shall transfer all remaining amounts to

19 the treasury of Puerto Rico, as under current

20 law.

21 (2) REPORT OF REFERENDA EXPENDITURES.—

22 Within 180 days after each referendum required by

23 this Act, and after the end of the period specified in

24 paragraph (1), the President, in consultation with

25 the Government of Puerto Rico, shall submit a re-
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1 port to the United States Senate and United States

2 House of Representatives on the amounts made

3 available under paragraph (1)(A) and all other

4 amounts expended by the State Elections Commis5 sion of Puerto Rico for referenda pursuant to this

6 Act.

7 (b) GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING REFERENDA AND

8 VOTER EDUCATION.—From amounts made available

9 under subsection (a)(1), the Government of Puerto Rico

10 shall make grants to the State Elections Commission of

11 Puerto Rico for referenda held pursuant to the terms of

12 this Act, as follows:

13 (1) 50 percent shall be available only for costs

14 of conducting the referenda.

15 (2) 50 percent shall be available only for voter

16 education funds for the central ruling body of the

17 political party, parties, or other qualifying entities

18 advocating a particular ballot choice. The amount al19 located for advocating a ballot choice under this

20 paragraph shall be apportioned equally among the

21 parties advocating that choice.

22 (c) ADDITIONAL RESOURCES.—In addition to

23 amounts made available by this Act, the Puerto Rico Leg24 islature may allocate additional resources for administra25 tive and voter education costs to each party so long as
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1 the distribution of funds is consistent with the apportion2 ment requirements of subsection (b).

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