105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 856

AN ACT

To provide a process leading to full self-government

for Puerto Rico.
105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 856

AN ACT

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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

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

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

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

5 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title, table of contents.

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.

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.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

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

9 and came under this Nation’s sovereignty pursuant

10 to the Treaty of Paris ending the Spanish-American

11 War in 1898. Article IX of the Treaty of Paris rec12 ognized the authority of Congress to provide for the

13 political status of the inhabitants of the territory.

14 (2) Consistent with establishment of United

15 States nationality for inhabitants of Puerto Rico

16 under the Treaty of Paris, Congress has exercised

17 its powers under the Territorial Clause of the Con18 stitution (article IV, section 3, clause 2) to provide

19 by several statutes beginning in 1917, for the United

20 States citizenship status of persons born in Puerto

21 Rico.
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1 (3) Consistent with the Territorial Clause and

2 rulings of the United States Supreme Court, partial

3 application of the United States Constitution has

4 been established in the unincorporated territories of

5 the United States including Puerto Rico.

6 (4) In 1950, Congress prescribed a procedure

7 for instituting internal self-government for Puerto

8 Rico pursuant to statutory authorization for a local

9 constitution. A local constitution was approved by

10 the people of Puerto Rico, approved by Congress,

11 subject to conforming amendment by Puerto Rico,

12 and thereupon given effect in 1952 after acceptance

13 of congressional conditions by the Puerto Rico Con14 stitutional Convention and an appropriate proclama15 tion by the Governor. The approved constitution es16 tablished the structure for constitutional government

17 in respect of internal affairs without altering Puerto

18 Rico’s fundamental political, social, and economic re19 lationship with the United States and without re20 stricting the authority of Congress under the Terri21 torial Clause to determine the application of Federal

22 law to Puerto Rico, resulting in the present ‘‘Com23 monwealth’’ structure for local self-government. The

24 Commonwealth remains an unincorporated territory

25 and does not have the status of ‘‘free association’’
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1 with the United States as that status is defined

2 under United States law or international practice.

3 (5) In 1953, the United States transmitted to

4 the Secretary-General of the United Nations for cir5 culation to its Members a formal notification that

6 the United States no longer would transmit informa7 tion regarding Puerto Rico to the United Nations

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

9 United States notification document informed the

10 United Nations that the cessation of information on

11 Puerto Rico was based on the ‘‘new constitutional

12 arrangements’’ in the territory, and the United

13 States expressly defined the scope of the ‘‘full meas14 ure’’ of local self-government in Puerto Rico as ex15 tending to matters of ‘‘internal government and ad16 ministration, subject only to compliance with appli17 cable provisions of the Federal Constitution, the

18 Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act and the acts of

19 Congress authorizing and approving the Constitu20 tion, as may be interpreted by judicial decision.’’.

21 Thereafter, the General Assembly of the United Na22 tions, based upon consent of the inhabitants of the

23 territory and the United States explanation of the

24 new status as approved by Congress, adopted Reso25 lution 748 (VIII) by a vote of 22 to 18 with 19 ab-
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1 stentions, thereby accepting the United States deter2 mination to cease reporting to the United Nations

3 on the status of Puerto Rico.

4 (6) In 1960, the United Nations General As5 sembly approved Resolution 1541 (XV), clarifying

6 that under United Nations standards regarding the

7 political status options available to the people of ter8 ritories yet to complete the process for achieving full

9 self-government, the three established forms of full

10 self-government are national independence, free as11 sociation based on separate sovereignty, or full inte12 gration with another nation on the basis of equality.

13 (7) The ruling of the United States Supreme

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

15 651) confirmed that Congress continues to exercise

16 authority over Puerto Rico pursuant to the Terri17 torial Clause found at Article IV, section 3, clause

18 2 of the United States Constitution; and in the 1982

19 case of Rodriguez v. Popular Democratic Party (457

20 U.S. 1), the Court confirmed that the Congress dele21 gated powers of administration to the Common22 wealth of Puerto Rico sufficient for it to function

23 ‘‘like a State’’ and as ‘‘an autonomous political en24 tity’’ in respect of internal affairs and administra25 tion, ‘‘sovereign over matters not ruled by the Con-
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1 stitution’’ of the United States. These rulings con2 stitute judicial interpretation of Puerto Rico’s status

3 which is in accordance with the clear intent of Con4 gress that establishment of local constitutional gov5 ernment in 1952 did not alter Puerto Rico’s fun6 damental status.

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

8 cosigned by the Governor of Puerto Rico in his ca9 pacity as president of one of Puerto Rico’s principal

10 political parties and the presidents of the two other

11 principal political parties of Puerto Rico, the United

12 States was formally advised that ‘‘* * * the People

13 of Puerto Rico wish to be consulted as to their pref14 erence with regards to their ultimate political sta15 tus’’, and the joint letter stated ‘‘* * * that since

16 Puerto Rico came under the sovereignty of the

17 United States of America through the Treaty of

18 Paris in 1898, the People of Puerto Rico have not

19 been formally consulted by the United States of

20 America as to their choice of their ultimate political

21 status’’.

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

23 President George Bush urged the Congress to take

24 the necessary steps to authorize a federally recog25 nized process allowing the people of Puerto Rico, for
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1 the first time since the Treaty of Paris entered into

2 force, to freely express their wishes regarding their

3 future political status in a congressionally recognized

4 referendum, a step in the process of self-determina5 tion which the Congress has yet to authorize.

6 (10) On November 14, 1993, the Government

7 of Puerto Rico conducted a plebiscite initiated under

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

9 vote none of the three status propositions received a

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

11 were: 48.6 percent for a commonwealth option, 46.3

12 percent statehood, and 4.4 percent independence.

13 (11) In a letter dated December 2, 1994, Presi14 dent William Jefferson Clinton informed leaders in

15 Congress that an Executive Branch Interagency

16 Working Group on Puerto Rico had been organized

17 to coordinate the review, development, and imple18 mentation of executive branch policy concerning

19 issues affecting Puerto Rico, including the November

20 1993 plebiscite.

21 (12) Under the Territorial Clause of the Con22 stitution, Congress has the authority and respon23 sibility to determine Federal policy and clarify status

24 issues in order to resolve the issue of Puerto Rico’s

25 final status.
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1 (13) On January 23, 1997, the Puerto Rico

2 Legislature enacted Concurrent Resolution 2, which

3 requested the 105th Congress ‘‘* * * to respond to

4 the democratic aspirations of the American citizens

5 of Puerto Rico’’ by approving legislation authorizing

6 ‘‘* * * a plebiscite sponsored by the Federal Govern7 ment, to be held no later than 1998’’.

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

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

10 under United States sovereignty and within the

11 United States customs territory for almost 100

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

13 most populous United States island territory at the

14 southeastern-most boundary of our Nation, located

15 astride the strategic shipping lanes of the Atlantic

16 Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

17 (15) Full self-government is attainable only

18 through establishment of a political status which is

19 based on either separate sovereignty and nationality

20 or full and equal United States nationality and citi21 zenship through membership in the Union.

22 SEC. 3. POLICY.

23 (a) CONGRESSIONAL COMMITMENT.—In recognition

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

25 been attained by Puerto Rico, and the responsibility of the
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1 Federal Government to enable the people of the territory

2 to freely express their wishes regarding political status and

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

4 commitment to encourage the development and implemen5 tation of procedures through which the permanent politi6 cal status of the people of Puerto Rico can be determined.

7 (b) OFFICIAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE.—In the event

8 that a referendum held under this Act results in approval

9 of sovereignty leading to Statehood, upon accession to

10 Statehood, the official language requirements of the Fed11 eral Government shall apply to Puerto Rico in the same

12 manner and to the same extent as throughout the United

13 States.

14 (c) ENGLISH LANGUAGE EMPOWERMENT.—It is in

15 the best interest of the Nation for Puerto Rico to promote

16 the teaching of English as the language of opportunity and

17 empowerment in the United States in order to enable stu18 dents in public schools to achieve English language pro19 ficiency by the age of 10.

20 SEC. 4. PROCESS FOR PUERTO RICAN FULL SELF-GOVERN21 MENT, INCLUDING THE INITIAL DECISION

22 STAGE, TRANSITION STAGE, AND IMPLEMEN23 TATION STAGE.

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

25 Puerto Rico’s political status is authorized to be held not
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1 later than December 31, 1998. The referendum shall be

2 held pursuant to this Act and in accordance with the appli3 cable provisions of Puerto Rico’s electoral law and other

4 relevant statutes consistent with this Act. Approval of a

5 status option must be by a majority of the valid votes cast.

6 The referendum shall be on the approval of 1 of the 3

7 options presented on the ballot as follows:

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

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

10 marked will not be counted.

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

12 lll

13 ‘‘Puerto Rico should retain Commonwealth, in

14 which—

15 ‘‘(1) Puerto Rico is joined in a relationship with

16 and under the national sovereignty of the United

17 States. It is the policy of the Congress that this rela18 tionship should only be dissolved by mutual consent.

19 ‘‘(2) Under this political relationship, Puerto

20 Rico like a State is an autonomous political entity,

21 sovereign over matters not ruled by the Constitution

22 of the United States. In the exercise of this sov23 ereignty, the laws of the Commonwealth shall govern

24 in Puerto Rico to the extent that they are consistent

25 with the Constitution, treaties, and laws of the
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1 United States. Congress retains its constitutional

2 authority to enact laws it deems necessary relating

3 to Puerto Rico.

4 ‘‘(3) Persons born in Puerto Rico have United

5 States citizenship by statute as secured by the Con6 stitution. It is the policy of the United States that

7 citizenship will continue to be granted to persons

8 born in Puerto Rico. The rights, privileges, and im9 munities provided for by the United States Constitu10 tion apply in Puerto Rico, except where limited by

11 the Constitution to citizens residing in a State.

12 ‘‘(4) Puerto Rico will continue to participate in

13 Federal programs and may be enabled to participate

14 equally with the States in the programs where it is

15 not now participating equally contingent on the pay16 ment of contributions, which may include payment

17 of taxes, as provided by Federal law.

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

19 here lll

20 ‘‘The people of Puerto Rico should become fully self21 governing through separate sovereignty in the form of

22 independence or free association, in which—

23 ‘‘(1) Puerto Rico is a sovereign Republic which

24 has full authority and responsibility over its territory

25 and population under a constitution which is the su-
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1 preme law, providing for a republican form of gov2 ernment and the protection of human rights;

3 ‘‘(2) the Republic of Puerto Rico is a member

4 of the community of nations vested with full powers

5 and responsibilities for its own fiscal and monetary

6 policy, immigration, trade, and the conduct in its

7 own name and right of relations with other nations

8 and international organizations, including the rights

9 and responsibilities that devolve upon a sovereign

10 nation under the general principles of international

11 law;

12 ‘‘(3) the residents of Puerto Rico owe allegiance

13 to and have the nationality and citizenship of the

14 Republic of Puerto Rico;

15 ‘‘(4) the Constitution and laws of the United

16 States no longer apply in Puerto Rico, and United

17 States sovereignty in Puerto Rico is ended; there18 upon birth in Puerto Rico or relationship to persons

19 with statutory United States citizenship by birth in

20 the former territory shall cease to be a basis for

21 United States nationality or citizenship, except that

22 persons who had such United States citizenship have

23 a statutory right to retain United States nationality

24 and citizenship for life, by entitlement or election as

25 provided by the United States Congress, based on
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1 continued allegiance to the United States: Provided,

2 That such persons will not have this statutory

3 United States nationality and citizenship status

4 upon having or maintaining allegiance, nationality,

5 and citizenship rights in any sovereign nation, in6 cluding the Republic of Puerto Rico, other than the

7 United States;

8 ‘‘(5) the previously vested rights of individuals

9 in Puerto Rico to benefits based upon past services

10 rendered or contributions made to the United States

11 shall be honored by the United States as provided by

12 Federal law;

13 ‘‘(6) Puerto Rico and the United States seek to

14 develop friendly and cooperative relations in matters

15 of mutual interest as agreed in treaties approved

16 pursuant to their respective constitutional processes,

17 and laws including economic and programmatic as18 sistance at levels and for a reasonable period as pro19 vided on a government-to-government basis, trade

20 between customs territories, transit of citizens in ac21 cordance with immigration laws, and status of

22 United States military forces; and

23 ‘‘(7) a free association relationship may be es24 tablished based on separate sovereign republic status

25 as defined above, but with such delegations of gov-
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1 ernment functions and other cooperative arrange2 ments as may be agreed to by both parties under a

3 bilateral pact terminable at will by either the United

4 States or Puerto Rico.

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

6 ‘‘Puerto Rico should become fully self governing

7 through Statehood, in which—

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

10 States Constitution, which shall be fully applicable

11 in Puerto Rico and which, with the laws and treaties

12 of the United States, is the supreme law and has the

13 same force and effect as in the other States of the

14 Union;

15 ‘‘(2) the State of Puerto Rico becomes a part

16 of the permanent union of the United States of

17 America, subject to the United States Constitution,

18 with powers not prohibited by the Constitution to

19 the States, reserved to the State of Puerto Rico in

20 its sovereignty or to the people;

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

22 Puerto Rico is recognized, protected and secured in

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

24 in the other States;
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1 ‘‘(4) rights, freedoms, and benefits as well as

2 duties and responsibilities of citizenship, including

3 payment of Federal taxes, apply in the same manner

4 as in the several States;

5 ‘‘(5) Puerto Rico is represented by two mem6 bers in the United States Senate and is represented

7 in the House of Representatives proportionate to the

8 population;

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

10 enfranchised to vote in elections for the President

11 and Vice President of the United States; and

12 ‘‘(7) Official English language requirements of

13 the Federal Government apply in Puerto Rico to the

14 same extent as Federal law requires throughout the

15 United States.’’.

16 (b) TRANSITION STAGE.—

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

18 of the results of the referendum from the Govern19 ment of Puerto Rico certifying approval of a ballot

20 choice of full self-government in a referendum held

21 pursuant to subsection (a), the President shall de22 velop and submit to Congress legislation for a tran23 sition plan of not more than 10 years which leads

24 to full self-government for Puerto Rico consistent

25 with the terms of this Act and the results of the ref-
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1 erendum and in consultation with officials of the

2 three branches of the Government of Puerto Rico,

3 the principal political parties of Puerto Rico, and

4 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 continued United States sovereignty leading to
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1 Statehood, the transition plan required by this sub2 section shall—

3 (i) include proposals and incentives to in4 crease the opportunities of the people of Puerto

5 Rico to expand their English proficiency in

6 order to promote and facilitate communication

7 with residents of all other States of the United

8 States and with the Federal Government, in9 cluding teaching in English in public schools,

10 awarding fellowships and scholarships, and pro11 viding grants to organizations located in various

12 communities that have, as a purpose, the pro13 motion of English language skills;

14 (ii) promote the use of English by the

15 United States citizens in Puerto Rico in order

16 to ensure—

17 (I) efficiency in the conduct and co18 ordination of the official business activities

19 of the Federal and State Governments;

20 (II) that the citizens possess the lan21 guage skill necessary to contribute to and

22 participate in all aspects of the Nation;

23 and

24 (III) the ability of all citizens of Puer25 to Rico to take full advantage of the oppor-
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1 tunities and responsibilities accorded to all

2 citizens, including education, economic ac3 tivities, occupational opportunities, and

4 civic affairs; and

5 (iii) include the effective date of incorpora6 tion, thereby permitting the greatest degree of

7 flexibility for the phase-in of Federal programs

8 and the development of the economy through

9 fiscal incentives, alternative tax arrangements,

10 and other measures.

11 (D) In the event of a vote in favor of Common12 wealth, the Government of Puerto Rico may call a

13 Special Convention to develop proposals for submis14 sion to the President and the Congress for changes

15 in Federal policy on matters of economic and social

16 concern to the people of Puerto Rico. The President

17 and the Congress, as appropriate, shall expeditiously

18 consider any such proposals. The Commonwealth

19 would assume any expenses related to increased re20 sponsibilities resulting from such proposals.

21 (2) CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION.—The

22 plan shall be considered by the Congress in accord23 ance with section 6.

24 (3) PUERTO RICAN APPROVAL.—
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1 (A) Not later than 180 days after enact2 ment of an Act pursuant to paragraph (1) pro3 viding for the transition to full self-government

4 for Puerto Rico as approved in the initial deci5 sion referendum held under subsection (a), a

6 referendum shall be held under the applicable

7 provisions of Puerto Rico’s electoral law on the

8 question of approval of the transition plan.

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

10 valid votes cast. The results of the referendum

11 shall be certified to the President of the United

12 States.

13 (c) IMPLEMENTATION STAGE.—

14 (1) PRESIDENTIAL RECOMMENDATION.—Not

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

16 of the transition provided for in the transition plan

17 approved under subsection (b), the President shall

18 submit to Congress a joint resolution with a rec19 ommendation for the date of termination of the

20 transition and the date of implementation of full

21 self-government for Puerto Rico within the transi22 tion period consistent with the ballot choice ap23 proved under subsection (a).
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1 (2) CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION.—The

2 joint resolution shall be considered by the Congress

3 in accordance with section 6.

4 (3) PUERTO RICAN APPROVAL.—

5 (A) Within 180 days after enactment of

6 the terms of implementation for full self-govern7 ment for Puerto Rico, a referendum shall be

8 held under the applicable provisions of Puerto

9 Rico’s electoral laws on the question of the ap10 proval of the terms of implementation for full

11 self-government for Puerto Rico.

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

13 valid votes cast. The results of the referendum

14 shall be certified to the President of the United

15 States.

16 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO REFERENDA, IN17 CLUDING INCONCLUSIVE REFERENDUM AND

18 APPLICABLE LAWS.

19 (a) APPLICABLE LAWS.—

20 (1) REFERENDA UNDER PUERTO RICAN

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

22 conducted in accordance with the applicable laws of

23 Puerto Rico, including laws of Puerto Rico under

24 which voter eligibility is determined and which re25 quire United States citizenship and establish other
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1 statutory requirements for voter eligibility of resi2 dents and nonresidents.

3 (2) FEDERAL LAWS.—The Federal laws appli4 cable to the election of the Resident Commissioner

5 of Puerto Rico shall, as appropriate and consistent

6 with this Act, also apply to the referenda. Any ref7 erence in such Federal laws to elections shall be con8 sidered, as appropriate, to be a reference to the

9 referenda, unless it would frustrate the purposes of

10 this Act.

11 (b) CERTIFICATION OF REFERENDA RESULTS.—The

12 results of each referendum held under this Act shall be

13 certified to the President of the United States and the

14 Senate and House of Representatives of the United States

15 by the Government of Puerto Rico.

16 (c) CONSULTATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IN17 CONCLUSIVE REFERENDUM.—

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

19 section 4(b) or (c) of this Act does not result in ap20 proval of a fully self-governing status, the President,

21 in consultation with officials of the three branches of

22 the Government of Puerto Rico, the principal politi23 cal parties of Puerto Rico, and other interested per24 sons as may be appropriate, shall make rec25 ommendations to the Congress within 180 days of
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1 receipt of the results of the referendum regarding

2 completion of the self-determination process for

3 Puerto Rico under the authority of Congress.

4 (2) ADDITIONAL REFERENDA.—To ensure that

5 the Congress is able on a continuing basis to exer6 cise its Territorial Clause powers with due regard

7 for the wishes of the people of Puerto Rico respect8 ing resolution of Puerto Rico’s permanent future po9 litical status, in the event that a referendum con10 ducted under section 4(a) does not result in a major11 ity vote for separate sovereignty or statehood, there

12 is authorized to be further referenda in accordance

13 with this Act, but not less than once every 10 years.

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 in

24 subsection (a) that is received by one House from the
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1 other House, it shall no longer be in order to consider such

2 legislation that was introduced in the receiving House.

3 (e) CONFERENCE.—Upon receiving from the other

4 House a message in which that House insists upon its

5 amendment to the legislation and requests a conference

6 with the House of Representatives or the Senate, as the

7 case may be, on the disagreeing votes thereon, the House

8 receiving the request shall be considered to have disagreed

9 to the amendment of the other House and agreed to the

10 conference requested 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 October 1, 1997, 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) Fifty percent shall be available only for

14 costs of conducting the referenda.

15 (2) Fifty percent shall be available only for

16 voter education funds for the central ruling body of

17 the political party, parties, or other qualifying enti18 ties advocating a particular ballot choice. The

19 amount allocated for advocating a ballot choice

20 under this paragraph shall be apportioned equally

21 among the 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).

Passed the House of Representatives March 4,

1998.

Attest:

Clerk.