I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4228

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 27, 1996

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska 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.

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

22 been established in the unincorporated territories of

23 the United States including Puerto Rico.
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1 (4) In 1950 Congress prescribed a procedure

2 for instituting internal self-government for Puerto

3 Rico pursuant to statutory authorization for a local

4 constitution. A local constitution was approved by

5 the people, amended and conditionally approved by

6 Congress, and thereupon given effect in 1952 after

7 acceptance of congressional conditions by the Puerto

8 Rico Constitutional Convention and an appropriate

9 proclamation by the Governor. The approved con10 stitution established the structure for constitutional

11 government in respect of internal affairs without al12 tering Puerto Rico’s fundamental political, social,

13 and economic relationship with the United States

14 and without restricting the authority of Congress

15 under the Territorial Clause to determine the appli16 cation of Federal law to Puerto Rico, resulting in

17 the present ‘‘Commonwealth’’ structure for local

18 self-government. The Commonwealth remains an un19 incorporated territory and does not have the status

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

21 status is defined under United States law or inter22 national practice.

23 (5) In 1953 the United States transmitted to

24 the Secretary-General of the United Nations for cir25 culation to its Members a formal notification that
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1 the United States no longer would transmit informa2 tion regarding Puerto Rico to the United Nations

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

4 United States notification document informed the

5 United Nations that the cessation of information on

6 Puerto Rico was based on the ‘‘new constitutional

7 arrangements’’ in the territory, and the United

8 States expressly defined the scope of the ‘‘full meas9 ure’’ of local self-government in Puerto Rico as ex10 tending to matters of ‘‘internal government and ad11 ministration, subject only to compliance with appli12 cable provisions of the Federal Constitution, the

13 Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act and the acts of

14 Congress authorizing and approving the Constitu15 tion, as may be interpreted by judicial decision.’’.

16 Thereafter, the General Assembly of the United Na17 tions, based upon consent of the inhabitants of the

18 territory and the United States explanation of the

19 new status as approved by Congress, adopted Reso20 lution 748 (VIII) by a vote of 22 to 18 with 19 ab21 stentions, thereby accepting the United States deter22 mination to cease reporting to the United Nations

23 on the status of Puerto Rico.

24 (6) In 1960 the United Nations General Assem25 bly approved Resolution 1541 (XV), clarifying that
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1 under United Nations standards regarding the polit2 ical status options available to the people of terri3 tories yet to complete the process for achieving full

4 self-government, the three established forms of full

5 self-government are national independence, free as6 sociation based on separate sovereignty, or full inte7 gration with another nation on the basis of equality.

8 (7) The ruling of the United States Supreme

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

10 651) confirmed that Congress continues to exercise

11 authority over Puerto Rico as territory ‘‘belonging to

12 the United States’’ pursuant to the Territorial

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

14 United States Constitution, a judicial interpretation

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

16 the clear intent of Congress that establishment of

17 local constitutional government in 1952 did not alter

18 Puerto Rico’s status as an unincorporated United

19 States territory.

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

21 cosigned by the Governor of Puerto Rico in his ca22 pacity as president of one of Puerto Rico’s principal

23 political parties and the presidents of the two other

24 principal political parties of Puerto Rico, the United

25 States was formally advised that ‘‘. . . the People of
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1 Puerto Rico wish to be consulted as to their pref2 erence with regards to their ultimate political sta3 tus’’, and the joint letter stated ‘‘. . . that since

4 Puerto Rico came under the sovereignty of the Unit5 ed States of America through the Treaty of Paris in

6 1898, the People of Puerto Rico have not been for7 mally consulted by the United States of America as

8 to their choice of their ultimate political status’’.

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

10 President George Bush urged the Congress to take

11 the necessary steps to authorize a federally recog12 nized process allowing the people of Puerto Rico, for

13 the first time since the Treaty of Paris entered into

14 force, to freely express their wishes regarding their

15 future political status in a congressionally recognized

16 referendum, a step in the process of self-determina17 tion which the Congress has yet to authorize.

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

19 Puerto Rico conducted a plebiscite initiated under

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

21 vote none of the three status propositions received a

22 majority of the votes cast. The results of that vote

23 were: 48.6 percent commonwealth, 46.3 percent

24 statehood, and 4.4 percent independence.
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1 (11) In 1994, President William Jefferson Clin2 ton established the Executive Branch Interagency

3 Working Group on Puerto Rico to coordinate the re4 view, development, and implementation of executive

5 branch policy concerning issues affecting Puerto

6 Rico, including the November 1993 plebiscite.

7 (12) There have been inconsistent and conflict8 ing interpretations of the 1993 plebiscite results,

9 and under the Territorial Clause of the Constitution,

10 Congress has the authority and responsibility to de11 termine Federal policy and clarify status issues in

12 order to advance the self-determination process in

13 Puerto Rico.

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

15 Legislature enacted Concurrent Resolution 62, which

16 requested the 104th Congress to respond to the re17 sults of the 1993 Puerto Rico Status Plebiscite and

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

19 political status.

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

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

22 under United States sovereignty and within the

23 United States customs territory for almost 100

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

25 most populous United States island territory at the
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1 southeastern-most boundary of our Nation, located

2 astride the strategic shipping lanes of the Atlantic

3 Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

4 (15) Full self-government for Puerto Rico is at5 tainable only through establishment of a political

6 status which is based on either separate Puerto

7 Rican sovereignty and nationality or full and equal

8 United States nationality and citizenship through

9 membership in the Union and under which Puerto

10 Rico is no longer an unincorporated territory subject

11 to the plenary authority of Congress arising from

12 the Territorial Clause.

13 SEC. 3. POLICY.

14 (a) CONGRESSIONAL COMMITMENT.—In recognition

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

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

17 Federal Government to enable the people of the territory

18 to freely express their wishes regarding political status and

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

20 commitment to encourage the development and implemen21 tation of procedures through which the permanent politi22 cal status of the people of Puerto Rico can be determined.

23 (b) OFFICIAL LANGUAGE.—It is the policy of the

24 Congress that English shall be the official language of the

25 Federal government in the United States, and that this
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1 policy shall apply in all of the States duly freely admitted

2 to the Union. The Congress recognizes that at the present

3 time, Spanish and English are the joint official languages

4 of Puerto Rico; that English is the official language of

5 Federal courts in Puerto Rico; that the ability to speak

6 English is a requirement for Federal jury services; yet

7 Spanish rather than English is currently the predominant

8 language used by the vast majority of the people of Puerto

9 Rico. In the event that the referenda held under this Act

10 result in approval of sovereignty leading to Statehood, it

11 is anticipated that upon accession to Statehood English

12 would become the official language of the Federal govern13 ment in Puerto Rico, consistent with Federal law.

14 SEC. 4. PROCESS FOR PUERTO RICAN FULL SELF-GOVERN15 MENT, INCLUDING THE INITIAL DECISION

16 STAGE, TRANSITION STAGE, AND IMPLEMEN17 TATION STAGE.

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

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

20 December 31, 1998. The referendum shall be held pursu21 ant to this Act and in accordance with the applicable pro22 visions of Puerto Rico’s electoral law and other relevant

23 statutes consistent with this Act. Approval of a status op24 tion must be by a majority of the valid votes cast. The
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1 referendum shall be on the approval of 1 of the 3 options

2 presented on the ballot as follows:

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

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

5 marked will not be counted.

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

7 lll

8 ‘‘Puerto Rico should retain Commonwealth, in

9 which—

10 ‘‘(1) Puerto Rico continues the present Com11 monwealth structure for self government with re12 spect to internal affairs and administration;

13 ‘‘(2) provisions of the Constitution and laws of

14 the United States apply to Puerto Rico as deter15 mined by Congress;

16 ‘‘(3) Puerto Rico remains a locally self-govern17 ing unincorporated territory of the United States;

18 ‘‘(4) continuation or modification of current

19 Federal law and policy applicable to Puerto Rico re20 mains within the discretion of Congress; and

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

22 determined through a process authorized by Con23 gress which includes self determination by the people

24 of Puerto Rico in periodic referenda.
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1 ‘‘B. SEPARATE SOVEREIGNTY.—If you agree, mark

2 here lll

3 ‘‘Puerto Rico should become fully self governing

4 through separate sovereignty leading to independence or

5 free association, in which—

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

7 authority and responsibility for its internal and ex8 ternal affairs and has the capacity to exercise in its

9 own name and right the powers of government with

10 respect to its territory and population;

11 ‘‘(2) a negotiated treaty of friendship and co12 operation, or an international bilateral pact of free

13 association terminable at will by either Puerto Rico

14 or the United States, defines future relations be15 tween Puerto Rico and the United States, providing

16 for cooperation and assistance in matters of shared

17 interest as agreed and approved by Puerto Rico and

18 the United States pursuant to this Act and their re19 spective constitutional processes;

20 ‘‘(3) a constitution democratically instituted by

21 the people of Puerto Rico, establishing a republican

22 form of full self-government and securing the rights

23 of citizens of the Puerto Rican nation, is the su24 preme law, and the Constitution and laws of the

25 United States no longer apply in Puerto Rico;
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1 ‘‘(4) The people of Puerto Rico owe allegiance

2 to the sovereign nation of Puerto Rico and have the

3 nationality, and citizenship thereof; United States

4 sovereignty, nationality, and citizenship in Puerto

5 Rico is ended; birth in Puerto Rico and relationship

6 to persons with statutory United States citizenship

7 by birth in the former territory are not bases for

8 United States nationality or citizenship, except that

9 persons who had such United States citizenship have

10 a statutory right to retain United States nationality

11 and citizenship for life, by entitlement or election as

12 provided by the United States Congress, based on

13 continued allegiance to the United States: Provided,

14 That such persons will not have this statutory Unit15 ed States nationality and citizenship status upon

16 having or maintaining allegiance, nationality, and

17 citizenship rights in any sovereign nation other than

18 the United States;

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

20 United States as a sovereign nation and establish21 ment of government-to-government relations on the

22 basis of comity and reciprocity, Puerto Rico’s rep23 resentation to the United States is accorded full dip24 lomatic status;
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1 ‘‘(6) Puerto Rico is eligible for United States

2 assistance provided on a government-to-government

3 basis, including foreign aid or programmatic assist4 ance, at levels subject to agreement by the United

5 States and Puerto Rico;

6 ‘‘(7) property rights and previously acquired

7 rights vested by employment under laws of Puerto

8 Rico or the United States are honored, and where

9 determined necessary such rights are promptly ad10 justed and settled consistent with government-to11 government agreements implementing the separation

12 of sovereignty; and

13 ‘‘(8) Puerto Rico is outside the customs terri14 tory of the United States, and trade between the

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

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

17 ‘‘Puerto Rico should become fully self governing

18 through United States sovereignty leading to statehood,

19 in which—

20 ‘‘(1) the people of Puerto Rico are fully self21 governing with their rights secured under the United

22 States Constitution, which is the supreme law and

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

24 of the Union;
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1 ‘‘(2) the sovereign State of Puerto Rico is in

2 permanent union with the United States, and powers

3 not delegated to the Federal Government or prohib4 ited to the States by the United States Constitution

5 are reserved to the people of Puerto Rico or the

6 State Government;

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

8 Puerto Rico is guaranteed, protected and secured in

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

10 in the other States;

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

12 and benefits as well as equal duties and responsibil13 ities of citizenship, including payment of Federal

14 taxes, as those in the several States;

15 ‘‘(5) Puerto Rico is represented by two mem16 bers in the United States Senate and is represented

17 in the House of Representatives proportionate to the

18 population;

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

20 enfranchised to vote in elections for the President

21 and Vice President of the United States; and

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

23 and communication in Federal courts and Federal

24 agencies. Puerto Rico will, as a State, promote Eng25 lish as an official language of the State government,
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1 courts, and agencies. English will be the language of

2 public instruction.’’.

3 (b) TRANSITION STAGE.—

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

5 of the results of the referendum from the Govern6 ment of Puerto Rico certifying approval of a ballot

7 choice of full self-government in a referendum held

8 pursuant to subsection (a), the President shall de9 velop and submit to Congress legislation for a tran10 sition plan of 10 years minimum which leads to full

11 self-government for Puerto Rico consistent with the

12 terms of this Act and in consultation with officials

13 of the three branches of the Government of Puerto

14 Rico, the principal political parties of Puerto Rico,

15 and other interested persons as may be appropriate.

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

17 of separate sovereignty, the Legislature of Puerto

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

19 the calling of a constituent convention to formulate,

20 in accordance with procedures prescribed by law,

21 Puerto Rico’s proposals and recommendations to im22 plement the referendum results. If a convention is

23 called for this purpose, any proposals and rec24 ommendations formally adopted by such convention

25 within time limits of this Act shall be transmitted to
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1 Congress by the President with the transition plan

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

3 President regarding the compatibility of such pro4 posals and recommendations with the United States

5 Constitution and this Act, and identifying which, if

6 any, of such proposals and recommendations have

7 been addressed in the President’s proposed transi8 tion plan.

9 ‘‘(C) Additionally, in the event of a vote in

10 favor of United States sovereignty leading to State11 hood, the President shall include in the transition

12 plan that the Federal and State government imple13 ment programs and incentives to promote the acqui14 sition and usage of English by the citizens of Puerto

15 Rico including but not limited to the provision of

16 educational instruction in English to persons not in

17 schools. The transition plan shall promote the usage

18 of English by the United States citizens of Puerto

19 Rico, in order to best allow for:

20 (i) the enhancement of English as an offi21 cial language of Puerto Rico, consistent with

22 the preservation of our Nation’s unity in diver23 sity and the prevention of division along linguis24 tic lines;
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1 (ii) the use of language skills necessary to

2 contribute most effectively to the Nation in all

3 aspects and for citizens to enjoy the full rights

4 and benefits of their citizenship;

5 (iii) the enjoyment by all Americans of the

6 rights and benefits of full participation in the

7 national economy and society which proficiency

8 in English can provide; and

9 (iv) the freedom of movement of persons

10 from and to Puerto Rico is not restricted or en11 cumbered by a lack of fluency in English.’’.

12 (2) CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION.—The

13 plan shall be considered by the Congress in accord14 ance with section 6.

15 (3) PUERTO RICAN APPROVAL.—

16 (A) Not later than 180 days after enact17 ment of an Act pursuant to paragraph (1) pro18 viding for the transition to full self-government

19 for Puerto Rico as approved in the initial deci20 sion referendum held under subsection (a), a

21 referendum shall be held under the applicable

22 provisions of Puerto Rico’s electoral law on the

23 question of approval of the transition plan.

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

25 valid votes cast. The results of the referendum
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1 shall be certified to the President of the United

2 States.

3 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE FOR TRANSITION PLAN.—

4 The President of the United States shall issue a

5 proclamation announcing the effective date of the

6 transition plan to full self-government for Puerto

7 Rico.

8 (c) IMPLEMENTATION STAGE.—

9 (1) PRESIDENTIAL RECOMMENDATION.—Not

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

11 of the transition provided for in the transition plan

12 approved under subsection (b), the President shall

13 submit to Congress legislation with a recommenda14 tion for the implementation of full self-government

15 for Puerto Rico consistent with the ballot choice ap16 proved under subsection (a).

17 (2) CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION.—The

18 plan shall be considered by the Congress in accord19 ance with section 6.

20 (3) PUERTO RICAN APPROVAL.—

21 (A) Within 180 days after enactment of

22 the terms of implementation for full self-govern23 ment for Puerto Rico, a referendum shall be

24 held under the applicable provisions of Puerto

25 Rico’s electoral laws on the question of the ap-
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1 proval of the terms of implementation for full

2 self-government for Puerto Rico.

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

4 valid votes cast. The results of the referendum

5 shall be certified to the President of the United

6 States.

7 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE OF FULL SELF-GOVERN8 MENT.—The President of the United States shall

9 issue a proclamation announcing the date of imple10 mentation of full self-government for Puerto Rico.

11 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO REFERENDA, IN12 CLUDING INCONCLUSIVE REFERENDUM AND

13 APPLICABLE LAWS.

14 (a) APPLICABLE LAWS.—

15 (1) REFERENDA UNDER PUERTO RICAN

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

17 conducted in accordance with the applicable laws of

18 Puerto Rico, including laws of Puerto Rico under

19 which voter eligibility is determined and which re20 quire United States citizenship and establish other

21 statutory requirements for voter eligibility of resi22 dents and nonresidents.

23 (2) FEDERAL LAWS.—The Federal laws appli24 cable to the election of the Resident Commissioner

25 of Puerto Rico shall, as appropriate and consistent
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1 with this Act, also apply to the referenda. Any ref2 erence in such Federal laws to elections shall be con3 sidered, as appropriate, to be a reference to the

4 referenda, unless it would frustrate the purposes of

5 this Act.

6 (b) CERTIFICATION OF REFERENDA RESULTS.—The

7 results of each referendum held under this Act shall be

8 certified to the President of the United States and the

9 Senate and House of Representatives of the United States

10 by the Government of Puerto Rico.

11 (c) CONSULTATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IN12 CONCLUSIVE REFERENDUM.—

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

14 section 4(b) or (c) of this Act does not result in ap15 proval of a fully self-governing status, the President,

16 in consultation with officials of the three branches of

17 the Government of Puerto Rico, the principal politi18 cal parties of Puerto Rico, and other interested per19 sons as may be appropriate, shall make rec20 ommendations to the Congress within 180 days of

21 receipt of the results of the referendum.

22 (2) EXISTING STRUCTURE TO REMAIN IN EF23 FECT.—If the inhabitants of the territory do not

24 achieve full self-governance through either integra25 tion into the Union or separate sovereignty in the
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1 form of independence or free association, Puerto

2 Rico will remain an unincorporated territory of the

3 United States, subject to the authority of Congress

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

5 States Constitution. In that event, the existing Com6 monwealth of Puerto Rico structure for local self7 government will remain in effect, subject to such

8 other measures as may be adopted by Congress in

9 the exercise of it’s Territorial Clause powers to de10 termine the disposition of the territory and status of

11 it’s inhabitants.

12 (3) AUTHORITY OF CONGRESS TO DETERMINE

13 STATUS.—Since current unincorporated territory

14 status of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is not

15 a permanent, unalterable or guaranteed status under

16 the Constitution of the United States, Congress re17 tains plenary authority and responsibility to deter18 mine a permanent status for Puerto Rico consistent

19 with the national interest. The Congress historically

20 has recognized a commitment to take into consider21 ation the freely expressed wishes of the people of

22 Puerto Rico regarding their future political status.

23 This policy is consistent with respect for the right of

24 self-determination in areas which are not fully self25 governing, but does not constitute a legal restriction
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1 or binding limitation on the Territorial Clause pow2 ers of Congress to determine a permanent status of

3 Puerto Rico. Nor does any such restriction or limita4 tion arise from the Puerto Rico Federal Relations

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

6 (4) ADDITIONAL REFERENDA.—To ensure that

7 the Congress is able on a continuing basis to exer8 cise its Territorial Clause powers with due regard

9 for the wishes of the people of Puerto Rico respect10 ing resolution of Puerto Rico’s permanent future po11 litical status, in the event that a referendum con12 ducted under section four is inconclusive as provided

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

14 Commonwealth structure as a territory, there shall

15 be another referendum in accordance with this Act

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

17 the date such inconclusive results are certified or de18 termined. This procedure shall be repeated every

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

20 Puerto Rico’s unincorporated territory status is ter21 minated in favor of a recognized form of full self22 government in accordance with this Act.
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1 SEC. 6. CONGRESSIONAL PROCEDURES FOR CONSIDER2 ATION OF LEGISLATION.

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

4 of Representatives (or his designee) and the majority lead5 er of the Senate (or his designee) shall each introduce leg6 islation (by request) providing for the transition plan

7 under section 4(b) and the implementation recommenda8 tion under section 4(c) not later than 5 legislative days

9 after the date of receipt by Congress of the submission

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

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

12 the date of introduction to the appropriate committee or

13 committees in accordance with rules of the respective

14 Houses. The legislation shall be reported not later than

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

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

17 period, that committee shall be automatically discharged

18 from consideration of the legislation, and the legislation

19 shall be placed on the appropriate calendar.

20 (c) CONSIDERATION.—

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

22 on which the last committee of the House of Rep23 resentatives or the Senate, as the case may be, has

24 reported or been discharged from further consider25 ation of such legislation, it is in order after the legis26 lation has been on the calendar for 14 legislative
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1 days for any Member of that House in favor of the

2 legislation to move to proceed to the consideration of

3 the legislation (after consultation with the presiding

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

5 proceed to its consideration at any time after the

6 third legislative day on which the Member announces

7 to the respective House concerned the Member’s in8 tention to do so. All points of order against the mo9 tion to proceed and against consideration of that

10 motion are waived. The motion is highly privileged

11 in the House of Representatives and is privileged in

12 the Senate and is not debatable. The motion is not

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

14 or to a motion to proceed to the consideration of

15 other business. A motion to reconsider the vote by

16 which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall

17 not be in order. If a motion to proceed to the consid18 eration of the legislation is agreed to, the respective

19 House shall immediately proceed to consideration of

20 the legislation without intervening motion (exception

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

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

23 consideration of the legislation in the Committee of

24 the Whole, the first reading of the legislation shall

25 be dispensed with. General debate shall be confined
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1 to the legislation, and shall not exceed 4 hours

2 equally divided and controlled by a proponent and

3 an opponent of the legislation. After general debate,

4 the legislation shall be considered as read for

5 amendment under the five-minute rule. Consider6 ation of the legislation for amendment shall not ex7 ceed 4 hours excluding time for recorded votes and

8 quorum calls. At the conclusion of the bill for

9 amendment, the Committee shall rise and report the

10 bill to the House with such amendments as may

11 have been adopted. The previous question shall be

12 considered as ordered on the legislation and amend13 ments thereto to final passage without intervening

14 motion, except one motion to recommit with or with15 out instructions. A motion to reconsider the vote on

16 passage of the legislation shall not be in order.

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

18 and all amendments thereto and debatable motions

19 and appeals in connection therewith, shall be limited

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

21 divided between, and controlled by, the majority

22 leader and the minority leader or their designees. No

23 amendment that is not germane to the provisions of

24 such legislation shall be received. A motion to fur25 ther limit debate is not debatable.
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1 (3) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair re2 lating to the application of the rules of the Senate

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

4 to the procedure relating to the legislation described

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

6 (d) CONSIDERATION BY OTHER HOUSE.—(1) If, be7 fore the passage by one House of the legislation described

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

9 House receives from the other House the legislation de10 scribed in subsection (a)—

11 (A) the legislation of the other House shall not

12 be referred to a committee and may not be consid13 ered in the House that receives it otherwise than on

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

15 and

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

17 such legislation with respect to such legislation that

18 was introduced in that House shall be the same as

19 if no legislation had been received from the other

20 House; but

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

22 other House that is identical to the legislation as en23 grossed by the receiving House, the vote on final

24 passage shall be on the legislation of the other

25 House; or
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1 (iii) after passage of the legislation, the legisla2 tion of the other House shall be considered as

3 amended with the text of the legislation just passed

4 and shall be considered as passed, and that House

5 shall be considered to have insisted on its amend6 ment and requested a conference with the other

7 House.

8 (2) Upon disposition of the legislation described

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

10 the other House, it shall no longer be in order to

11 consider such legislation that was introduced in the

12 receiving House.

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

14 in which that House insists upon its amendment to the

15 legislation and requests a conference with the House of

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

17 disagreeing votes thereon, the House receiving the request

18 shall be considered to have disagreed to the amendment

19 of the other House and agreed to the conference requested

20 by that House.

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

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

23 House of Representatives or the Senate, as appropriate,

24 is in session.
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1 (g) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWER.—The provi2 sions of this section are enacted by the Congress—

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

4 the Senate and the House of Representatives and, as

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

6 House and shall supersede other rules only to the

7 extent that they are inconsistent therewith; and

8 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional

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

10 they relate to the procedures of that House) at any

11 time, in the same manner, and to the same extent

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

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

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—

15 (1) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS DERIVED FROM

16 TAX ON FOREIGN RUM.—During the period begin17 ning on October 1, 1996, and ending on the date the

18 President determines that all referenda required by

19 this Act have been held, from the amounts covered

20 into the treasury of Puerto Rico under section

21 7652(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,

22 the Secretary of the Treasury—

23 (A) upon request and in the amounts iden24 tified from time to time by the President, shall

25 make the amounts so identified available to the
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1 treasury of Puerto Rico for the purposes speci2 fied in subsection (b); and

3 (B) shall transfer all remaining amounts to

4 the treasury of Puerto Rico, as under current

5 law.

6 (2) REPORT OF REFERENDA EXPENDITURES.—

7 Within 180 days after each referendum required by

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

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

10 the Government of Puerto Rico, shall submit a re11 port to the United States Senate and United States

12 House of Representatives on the amounts made

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

14 amounts expended by the State Elections Commis15 sion of Puerto Rico for referenda pursuant to this

16 Act.

17 (b) GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING REFERENDA AND

18 VOTER EDUCATION.—From amounts made available

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

20 shall make grants to the State Elections Commission of

21 Puerto Rico for referenda held pursuant to the terms of

22 this Act, as follows:

23 (1) 50 percent shall be available only for costs

24 of conducting the referenda.
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1 (2) 50 percent shall be available only for voter

2 education funds for the central ruling body of the

3 political party, parties, or other qualifying entities

4 advocating a particular ballot choice. The amount al5 located for advocating a ballot choice under this

6 paragraph shall be apportioned equally among the

7 parties advocating that choice.

8 (c) ADDITIONAL RESOURCES.—In addition to

9 amounts made available by this Act, the Puerto Rico Leg10 islature may allocate additional resources for administra11 tive and voter education costs to each party so long as

12 the distribution of funds is consistent with the apportion13 ment requirements of subsection (b).

Æ