(c) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 3 months after 
the election and designation of members to the Bilateral Ne-
gotiating Commission, members shall meet at such time and 
place as the legislature of Puerto Rico shall determine. Such 
meeting shall constitute the establishment of the Bilateral 
Negotiating Commission. 
(d) DUTIES.—The Bilateral Negotiating Commission 
shall— 
(1) be responsible for expediting the orderly 
transfer of all functions currently exercised by the 
Government of the United States in Puerto Rico, to 
Puerto Rico, and shall recommend to Congress any 
appropriate legislation to carry into effect such trans-
fer, including any appropriate enabling legislation as 
may be required by the Articles of Free Association; 
(2) negotiate all matters pertaining to the gov-
ernment-to-government relationship between Puerto 
Rico and the United States through the development 
of the Articles of Free Association, including foreign 
affairs, trade, finance, taxation, currency, economic 
assistance, security and defense, dispute resolution, 
immigration, economic benefits (including grants), 
and termination of the free association status; and 
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(3) endeavor to complete the Articles of Free As-
sociation not later than 2 years after the commence-
ment of the constitutional Convention. 
(e) COLLABORATION.—The Government of the territory 
of Puerto Rico and the agencies of the Government of the 
United States shall collaborate with the Bilateral Negoti-
ating Commission to provide for the orderly transfer of the 
functions of government as required by the Articles of Free 
Association. 
SEC. 211. ARTICLES OF FREE ASSOCIATION APPROVAL AND 
EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) APPROVAL.—The Articles of Free Association shall 
come into effect upon mutual agreement between the Gov-
ernment of the United States and the Government of Puerto 
Rico after completion of approval by— 
(1) a separate ratification vote on the Articles by 
the eligible voters in the special election held under 
section 203; and 
(2) the Government of the United States in ac-
cordance with its constitutional processes. 
(b) REJECTION.—If the special election under sub-
section (a)(1) results in rejection of the Articles of Free As-
sociation, the process provided for in section 210 and sub-
section (a) shall be repeated. 
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SEC. 212. TERMINATION. 
The Articles of Free Association between the United 
States and Puerto Rico may be terminated at will by either 
party at any time. 
SEC. 213. INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS TO ECONOMIC BENEFITS 
AND GRANTS. 
(a) RIGHTS AND BENEFITS.—All vested rights and 
benefits which accrue to residents of the territory of Puerto 
Rico under the laws of the United States from past services 
or contributions, such as rights and benefits for veterans 
or relatives of veterans of the Armed Forces of the United 
States, retired Government employees, or beneficiaries of old 
age, disability, or survivors’ insurance benefits under the 
Social Security Act, shall not be interrupted after the proc-
lamation of international sovereignty through free associa-
tion but will continue until such time as said rights and 
benefits are completely extinguished according to the appli-
cable laws of the United States. All services which must be 
rendered as part of these rights and benefits shall be made 
available through the Government of the nation of Puerto 
Rico in accordance with agreements reached by the two na-
tions. 
(b) SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM.—Notwithstanding sub-
section (a), all contributions made by employees and em-
ployers in Puerto Rico to the Social Security system with 
respect to persons who, upon the proclamation of inter-
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national sovereignty through free association, are residents 
of the nation of Puerto Rico and are not yet eligible for 
old age, disability, or survivors’ insurance benefits under 
the system, shall be transferred to the Government of the 
nation of Puerto Rico once said Government establishes its 
own social security system. The Government of the nation 
of Puerto Rico may not use these funds for any purpose 
other than the establishment and operation of a social secu-
rity system. Upon the transfer described herein, the obliga-
tions of the United States Government under the Social Se-
curity Act with respect to such residents of the nation of 
Puerto Rico shall cease. 
(c) OTHER
FEDERAL
TRANSFER
PAYMENTS.—All 
other Federal transfer payments to individuals and to the 
Government of the territory of Puerto Rico shall be main-
tained in the form of annual block grants to be used 
discretionally by the Government of the nation of Puerto 
Rico— 
(1) during the 10 fiscal years following the proc-
lamation of international sovereignty through free as-
sociation, the annual block grants shall amount to the 
annual aggregate funding of all programs which cur-
rently extend to the territory of Puerto Rico, or of all 
programs which shall have been extended to the terri-
tory of Puerto Rico during the fiscal year imme-
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diately prior to the proclamation of international sov-
ereignty through free association, whichever shall be 
greater; and 
(2) the annual block grants shall decrease there-
after on a straight-line basis, at the rate of ten per-
cent each year, beginning on the eleventh fiscal year 
after the proclamation of international sovereignty 
through free association. At any time during the 
aforementioned transition period the terms of this 
subsection may be modified by agreement between the 
United States and the nation of Puerto Rico. 
(d) REVISION.—The terms and conditions of this sub-
section may be revised as part of an agreement under the 
Articles of Free Association. 
TITLE III—TRANSITION AND IM-
PLEMENTATION 
— 
STATE-
HOOD 
SEC. 301. PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION; ADMISSION INTO 
THE UNION. 
If a plebiscite held under this Act results in a majority 
vote for statehood: 
(1) PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION; DATE OF AD-
MISSION.—Upon receipt of the Elections Commis-
sion’s certification of the plebiscite results pursuant to 
section 5(d), the President shall issue a proclamation 
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declaring the date that Puerto Rico is admitted as a 
State of the Union on an equal footing with all other 
States, which shall be a date not later than one year 
after the effective date of the plebiscite results. 
(2) SUBMISSION OF PROCLAMATION.—The Presi-
dent shall cause such proclamation to be submitted to 
the Governor of Puerto Rico, the legislature of Puerto 
Rico, the President pro tempore of the United States 
Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of 
Representatives, the Senate Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources, and the House Committee on Nat-
ural Resources. 
(3) ADMISSION INTO THE UNION.—Subject to the 
provisions of this Act, and upon the date declared by 
the President for admission of Puerto Rico as a State 
under the proclamation under paragraph (1), the ter-
ritory of Puerto Rico shall be a State of the United 
States of America and as such admitted into the 
Union on an equal footing with the other States in 
all respects. Upon admission, Puerto Rico shall be 
known as the State of Puerto Rico. 
(4) INCORPORATION.—Puerto Rico shall remain 
unincorporated until its admission as a State of the 
Union under paragraph (3). 
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SEC. 302. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO EXISTING LAW. 
(a) REVIEW.—Not later than 30 days after the certifi-
cation of a plebiscite result under this Act in favor of state-
hood, the President shall initiate a review of Federal law 
with respect to Puerto Rico, including those regarding— 
(1) taxation of persons and businesses; 
(2) health care; 
(3) housing; 
(4) transportation; 
(5) education; and 
(6) entitlement programs. 
(b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than one year 
after the date on which the President initiates a review 
under subsection (a), the President shall submit any rec-
ommendations to Congress for changes to Federal law iden-
tified during such review, as the President deems appro-
priate. 
SEC. 303. TERRITORY AND BOUNDARIES. 
The State of Puerto Rico shall consist of all of the is-
lands, together with their appurtenant reefs, seafloor, sub-
merged lands, and territorial waters in the seaward bound-
ary, presently under the jurisdiction of the territory of 
Puerto Rico. 
SEC. 304. CONSTITUTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Constitution of the territory of 
Puerto Rico, as approved by Public Law 82–447 and subse-
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quently amended as of the date of enactment of this Act 
is hereby found to be republican in form and in conformity 
with the Constitution of the United States and the prin-
ciples of the Declaration of Independence, and is hereby ac-
cepted, ratified, and confirmed as the Constitution of the 
State of Puerto Rico. 
(b) FUTURE CONSTITUTIONS.—The Constitution of the 
State of Puerto Rico— 
(1) shall always be republican in form; and 
(2) shall not be repugnant to the Constitution of 
the United States and the principles of the Declara-
tion of Independence. 
SEC. 305. ELECTIONS OF SENATORS AND REPRESENTA-
TIVES, 
CERTIFICATION, 
AND 
LEGAL 
DIS-
PUTES. 
(a) ELECTIONS
OF SENATORS
AND REPRESENTA-
TIVES.—Not more than one month after the proclamation 
under section 301, the Governor of Puerto Rico shall issue 
a declaration that shall designate and announce the dates 
and other requirements for primary and general elections 
under applicable Federal and local law for representation 
in the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 
United States upon admission of Puerto Rico as a State. 
(b) RESIDENT COMMISSIONER.—The office of Resident 
Commissioner of Puerto Rico shall cease to exist upon the 
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swearing in of the first Representative from the State of 
Puerto Rico to the House of Representatives. 
(c) SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon its admission into the 
Union, the State of Puerto Rico shall be entitled to 
Senators and Representatives who shall be entitled to 
be admitted to seats in the Congress of the United 
States and to all the rights and privileges of Senators 
and Representatives of the other States in the Con-
gress of the United States. 
(2) FIRST ELECTION OF SENATORS.—In the first 
election of Senators, the two senatorial offices shall be 
separately identified and designated, and no person 
may be a candidate for both offices. Nothing in this 
section shall impair the privilege of the Senate to de-
termine the class and term to which each of the Sen-
ators elected shall be assigned, with the exception that 
the Senators shall not be in the same class. 
(3) FIRST ELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVES.—In 
the first election of Representatives, and subsequent 
elections until the next Census-based reapportionment 
cycle, the State of Puerto Rico shall be entitled to the 
same number of Representatives as the State whose 
most recent Census population was closest to, but less 
than, that of Puerto Rico, and such Representatives 
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shall be in addition to the membership of the House 
of Representatives as now prescribed by law. Any 
such increase in the membership shall not operate to 
either increase or decrease the permanent membership 
of the House of Representatives as prescribed in the 
Act of August 8, 1911 (37 Stat. 13), nor shall such 
temporary increase affect the basis of apportionment 
established by the Act of November 15, 1941 (55 Stat. 
761), for the 83d Congress and each Congress there-
after, unless Congress acts to increase the total num-
ber of Members of the House of Representatives. 
Thereafter, the State of Puerto Rico shall be entitled 
to such number of Representatives as provided for by 
applicable law based on the next reapportionment. 
The apportionment of congressional districts for the 
first election and subsequent election of Representa-
tives shall be conducted as provided for by the Con-
stitution and laws of the State of Puerto Rico for 
state legislative districts. 
(d) CERTIFICATION OF RESULTS.—The Elections Com-
mission shall certify the results of primary and general elec-
tions for representation in the Senate and the House of Rep-
resentatives of the United States to the Governor. Not later 
than 10 days after the date of each certification, the Gov-
ernor shall declare the results of the primary and general 
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elections, and transmit the results of each election to the 
President of the United States, the President pro tempore 
of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives. 
(e) JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT COURT.—The United 
States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico shall 
have original and exclusive jurisdiction of any civil action 
alleging a dispute or controversy pertaining to electoral 
processes conducted under this section. 
SEC. 306. STATE TITLE TO LAND AND PROPERTY. 
(a) STATE TITLE.—The State of Puerto Rico and its 
political subdivisions and dependencies shall have and re-
tain title to all property, real and personal, held by the 
territory of Puerto Rico and its political subdivisions and 
dependencies on the date of the admission of Puerto Rico 
into the Union. 
(b) FEDERAL TITLE.—Any lands and other properties 
that, as of the date of admission of Puerto Rico into the 
Union, are set aside pursuant to law for the use of the 
United States under any— 
(1) Act of Congress; 
(2) Executive order; 
(3) proclamation of the President; or 
(4) proclamation of the Governor of the territory 
of Puerto Rico, 
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shall remain the property of the United States. 
(c) CONTINENTAL SHELF.—The State of Puerto Rico 
shall have the exclusive right to explore, exploit, lease, pos-
sess, and use all seabed, natural, and mineral resources 
lying within three marine leagues (nine nautical miles) 
from its shore, as granted under section 8 of the Act of 
March 2, 1917 (48 U.S.C. 749; 39 Stat. 954). All other 
rights of sovereignty in regards to the continental shelf and 
waters, shall belong to the United States, except those al-
ready vested in Puerto Rico. 
SEC. 307. CONTINUITY OF LAWS, GOVERNMENT, AND OBLI-
GATIONS. 
Upon the admission of the State of Puerto Rico into 
the Union: 
(1) CONTINUITY OF LAWS.—All of the territorial 
laws in force in Puerto Rico on the date of issuance 
of the proclamation described in section 301(1) not 
inconsistent with this Act or the Constitution of the 
State of Puerto Rico shall be and continue in force 
and effect throughout the State, until amended, modi-
fied, or repealed by the State. All of the laws of the 
United States shall have the same force and effect 
within the State as in the other several States. 
(2) CONTINUITY OF GOVERNMENT.—The individ-
uals holding legislative, executive, and judicial offices 
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of Puerto Rico shall continue to discharge the duties 
of their respective offices when Puerto Rico becomes a 
State of the Union in, under, or by authority of the 
government of the State, as provided by the constitu-
tion and laws of the State. 
(3) CONTINUITY OF OBLIGATIONS.—All contracts, 
obligations, liabilities, debts, and claims of the terri-
tory of Puerto Rico and its instrumentalities at the 
moment of admission shall continue in full force and 
effect as the contracts, obligations, liabilities, debts, 
and claims of the State of Puerto Rico and its instru-
mentalities when Puerto Rico becomes a State of the 
Union. 
(4) USE
AND
ENJOYMENT
OF
PROPERTY.—All 
laws of the United States reserving to the United 
States the free use or enjoyment of property which 
vests in or is conveyed to the State of Puerto Rico or 
its political subdivisions pursuant to this section or 
reserving the right to alter, amend, or repeal laws re-
lating thereto, shall cease to be effective. 
SEC. 308. JUDICIAL PRONOUNCEMENTS. 
(a) PENDING.—No writ, action, indictment, cause, or 
proceeding pending in any court of the territory of Puerto 
Rico, shall abate by reason of the admission of the State 
of Puerto Rico into the Union, but shall proceed within such 
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appropriate State courts as shall be established under the 
Constitution of the State of Puerto Rico, or shall continue 
in the United States District Court for the District of Puer-
to Rico, as the nature of the case may require. 
(b) NOT YET PENDING.—All civil causes of action and 
all criminal offenses, which shall have arisen or been com-
mitted before the admission of the State, but as to which 
no writ, action, indictment, or proceeding shall be pending 
at the date of such admission, shall be subject to prosecution 
in the appropriate State courts or in the United States Dis-
trict Court for the District of Puerto Rico in like manner, 
to the same extent, and with like right of appellate review, 
as if such State had been created and such State courts had 
been established prior to the accrual of such causes of action 
or the commission of such offenses. The admission of the 
State shall effect no change in the procedural or substantive 
laws governing causes of action and criminal offenses which 
shall have arisen or been committed, and any such criminal 
offenses as shall have been committed against the laws of 
the territory of Puerto Rico, shall be tried and punished 
by the appropriate courts of the State, and any such crimi-
nal offenses as shall have been committed against the laws 
of the United States shall be tried and punished in the 
United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. 
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(c) APPEALS.—Parties shall have the same rights of 
judicial review of final decisions of the United States Dis-
trict Court for the District of Puerto Rico or the Supreme 
Court of Puerto Rico, in any case finally decided prior to 
the admission of the State of Puerto Rico into the Union, 
whether or not an appeal therefrom shall have been per-
fected prior to such admission. The United States Court of 
Appeals for the First Circuit and the Supreme Court of the 
United States, shall have the same jurisdiction in such cases 
as by law provided prior to the admission of the State into 
the Union. Any mandate issued subsequent to the admission 
of the State, shall be to the United States District Court 
for the District of Puerto Rico or a court of the State, as 
appropriate. Parties shall have the same rights of appeal 
from and appellate review of all orders, judgments, and de-
crees of the United States District Court for the District 
of Puerto Rico and of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 
in any case pending at the time of admission of the State 
into the Union, and the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico and 
the Supreme Court of the United States shall have the same 
jurisdiction therein, as by law provided in any case arising 
subsequent to the admission of the State into the Union. 
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Union Calendar No. 462 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8393 
[Report No. 117–642] 
A BILL 
To enable the people of Puerto Rico to choose a 
permanent, nonterritorial, fully self-governing po-
litical status for Puerto Rico and to provide for 
a transition to and the implementation of that 
permanent, nonterritorial, fully self-governing po-
litical status, and for other purposes. 
DECEMBER 14, 2022 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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