IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 641 

Acknowledging that the decisions rendered by the United States Supreme 

Court in the so-called Insular Cases rest on the same racist and ethnocentric assumptions leading to Plessy v. Ferguson’s infamous ‘‘separate 

but equal’’ doctrine, that the legal doctrine emanating from the Insular 

Cases has no place in United States Constitutional law, and that the 

Insular Cases must be rejected in their entirety. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 18, 2019 

Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N of Puerto Rico, Mr. SAN

NICOLAS, Mr. SABLAN, and Ms. PLASKETT) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, 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 

RESOLUTION 

Acknowledging that the decisions rendered by the United 

States Supreme Court in the so-called Insular Cases 

rest on the same racist and ethnocentric assumptions 

leading to Plessy v. Ferguson’s infamous ‘‘separate but 

equal’’ doctrine, that the legal doctrine emanating from 

the Insular Cases has no place in United States Constitutional law, and that the Insular Cases must be rejected in their entirety. 

Whereas the Spanish Kingdom transferred to the United 

States sovereignty over Puerto Rico, the Philippine IsVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR641.IH HR641

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•HRES 641 IH 

lands, and Guam pursuant to the 1898 Treaty of Paris, 

which put an end to the so-called Spanish-American War; 

Whereas the newly acquired territories were non-contiguous 

archipelagos separated by thousands of miles from the 

United States continental mainland and inhabited by distinct nationalities made up by peoples whose races, languages, cultures, and religious beliefs set them apart 

from the dominant Anglo-Saxon societal structure then in 

place in the United States; 

Whereas the constitutional question of whether the United 

States Constitution followed the United States flag into 

these new lands was answered by the United States Supreme Court in a series of decisions announced in 1901 

commonly known as the Insular Cases; 

Whereas the same Fuller Court that rendered the discredited 

Plessy v. Ferguson decision in 1896 also resolved the Insular Cases; 

Whereas a fractured United States Supreme Court found 

that the United States Constitution did not follow the 

United States flag into these new far-flung possessions; 

Whereas the United States Supreme Court held that the Caribbean and Pacific possessions were now unincorporated 

territories belonging to the United States but not a part 

of the United States as that phrase is used in the Uniformity Clause of the United States Constitution; 

Whereas under the Insular Cases only those rights deemed to 

be fundamental apply to the unincorporated territories; 

Whereas notions of Anglo-Saxon racial and imperialist supremacy, together with the perceived racial and cultural 

inferiority of non-White peoples, drove the outcome of the 

Insular Cases; 


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•HRES 641 IH 

Whereas in 1900, the Eastern Samoan Islands, now known 

as American Samoa, transferred its sovereignty to the 

United States; 

Whereas in 1917, Denmark transferred to the United States 

sovereignty of the Danish West Indies, now known as the 

Virgin Islands of the United States; 

Whereas in 1976, the Northern Mariana Islands entered into 

a covenant with the United States establishing the territory’s status as a self-governing commonwealth in political union with the United States; 

Whereas the Insular Cases today negatively impact a community of nearly 4,000,000 Americans living in Puerto Rico, 

Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa; 

Whereas the doctrine established by the Insular Cases is still 

used to perpetuate the egregious unequal treatment of 

United States citizens and nationals in the territories; 

Whereas jurists and legal scholars have recognized that the 

Insular Cases rest on reasoning that runs afoul the original intent of the framers of the United States Constitution; and 

Whereas the imperialist and racist ideologies underlying the 

Insular Cases must be rejected: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes the importance of supporting 

3 equal rights and upholding the interests of Ameri4 cans living in the United States territories; 


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•HRES 641 IH 

1 (2) acknowledges that the Insular Cases rest on 

2 racist and imperialist assumptions that have no 

3 place in the constitutional landscape of the United 

4 States; and 

5 (3) rejects the Insular Cases and their applica6 tion to all present and future cases and controver7 sies. 

Æ 


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