SEC. 202. CHARACTER OF THE CONSTITUTION. 
The constitutional Convention under section 201 shall 
formulate and draft a Constitution for Puerto Rico that 
guarantees the protection of fundamental human rights, in-
cluding— 
(1) due process and equal protection under the 
law; 
(2) freedom of speech, press, assembly, associa-
tion, and religion; 
(3) the rights of the accused; 
(4) any other economic, social, and cultural 
rights as the constitutional Convention may deem ap-
propriate and necessary; and 
(5) provisions to ensure that no individual born 
in the nation of Puerto Rico shall be stateless at 
birth. 
SEC. 203. SUBMISSION; RATIFICATION. 
(a) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 2 years after the es-
tablishment of the constitutional Convention, the Constitu-
tion formulated and drafted by the constitutional Conven-
tion shall be submitted to the eligible voters of Puerto Rico 
for ratification or rejection in a special election. 
(b) MANNER OF ELECTION.—The special election held 
under this subsection shall be held in the manner prescribed 
by the legislature of Puerto Rico. 
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SEC. 204. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one month after the 
ratification of the Constitution under section 203, the Gov-
ernor of the territory of Puerto Rico shall issue a proclama-
tion calling for the election of such officers of the nation 
of Puerto Rico as may be required by the ratified Constitu-
tion. 
(b) REJECTION.—If the special election results in rejec-
tion of the Constitution, the process provided for in sections 
201 through 203 shall be repeated, except that section 
201(a) shall be applied by substituting— 
(1) ‘‘the special election’’ for ‘‘a plebiscite’’; and 
(2) ‘‘rejecting the Constitution’’ for ‘‘in favor of 
sovereignty in free association with the United 
States’’. 
(c) DEADLINE; PROCEDURES.—The election under 
subsection (a) shall be held— 
(1) not later than 6 months after the date of 
ratification of the Constitution; and 
(2) in accordance with the procedures and re-
quirements established in the Constitution of the na-
tion of Puerto Rico. 
(d) CERTIFICATION OF RESULTS.—Not later than 10 
days after the election of officers under subsection (a), the 
Elections Commission shall certify the results of the elec-
tion. The Governor of the territory of Puerto Rico shall in-
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form the results of the election to the President of the United 
States, the President pro tempore of the United States Sen-
ate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representa-
tives, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 
the Senate, and the Committee on Natural Resources of the 
House of Representatives. 
SEC. 205. PROCLAMATIONS BY PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 
STATES; HEAD OF STATE OF PUERTO RICO. 
(a) PROCLAMATION.—Not later than one month after 
the official certification of the elected officers of the nation 
of Puerto Rico under section 204, the President of the 
United States shall by proclamation— 
(1) withdraw and surrender all rights of posses-
sion, supervision, jurisdiction, control, or sovereignty 
then existing and exercised by the United States over 
the territory and residents of Puerto Rico; 
(2) recognize, on behalf of the United States of 
America, the international sovereignty through free 
association of the nation of Puerto Rico and the au-
thority of the government instituted by eligible voters 
of Puerto Rico under the Constitution of their own 
adoption; and 
(3) state that the effective date of withdrawal of 
the sovereignty of the United States and recognition 
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of international sovereignty through free association 
shall be the same as the date of the proclamation. 
(b) COPY
OF
PROCLAMATION
FORWARDED.—The 
President of the United States shall forward a copy of the 
proclamation issued under subsection (a) not later than one 
week after signature to the presiding officer of the Constitu-
tional Convention of Puerto Rico, the officer elected as head 
of state of the nation, 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. 
(c) DATE GOVERNMENT TO TAKE OFFICE.—Not later 
than one week after the date of receipt of the Presidential 
proclamation and with the advice of the officer elected as 
head of state of the nation, the presiding officer of the con-
stitutional Convention shall determine the date on which 
the Government of the nation shall take office, and shall 
so notify the Governor of the territory of Puerto Rico, the 
President of the United States, the President pro tempore 
of the United States Senate, and the Speaker of the United 
States House of Representatives. 
SEC. 206. LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS. 
Upon the proclamation of international sovereignty 
through free association as provided in this Title, and ex-
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cept as otherwise provided in this Title or in any separate 
agreements thereafter concluded between the United States 
and the nation of Puerto Rico— 
(1) all property, rights and interests which the 
United States may have acquired over Puerto Rico by 
virtue of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, and thereafter 
by cession, purchase, or eminent domain, with the ex-
ception of such land and other property, rights, or in-
terests as may have been sold or otherwise legally dis-
posed of prior to the proclamation of international 
sovereignty through free association, shall vest ipso 
facto in the nation of Puerto Rico; and 
(2) except as provided in section 209, all laws of 
the United States applicable to the territory of Puerto 
Rico immediately prior to the proclamation of inter-
national sovereignty through free association shall no 
longer apply in the nation of Puerto Rico. 
SEC. 207. JUDICIAL PRONOUNCEMENTS. 
(a) JUDGMENTS BEFORE PROCLAMATION.—The na-
tion of Puerto Rico shall recognize and give effect to all 
orders and judgments rendered by United States or terri-
torial courts before the date of the proclamation of inter-
national sovereignty through free association pursuant to 
the laws of the United States then applicable to the territory 
of Puerto Rico. 
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(b) CONTINUITY OF PENDING PROCEEDINGS.—All ju-
dicial proceedings pending in the courts of the territory of 
Puerto Rico on the day of the proclamation of international 
sovereignty through free association shall be continued in 
the corresponding courts under the Constitution of the na-
tion of Puerto Rico. 
(c) TRANSFER OF JUDICIAL POWER.—Upon the proc-
lamation of international sovereignty through free associa-
tion, the judicial power of the United States shall no longer 
extend to Puerto Rico. All proceedings pending in the 
United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico 
shall be transferred to the corresponding Puerto Rican 
courts of competence or other competent judicial authority 
under the Constitution of the nation of Puerto Rico for dis-
position in conformity with laws applicable at the time 
when the controversy in process arose. All proceedings pend-
ing in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Cir-
cuit, or in the Supreme Court of the United States, that 
initiated in, or that could have been initiated in, the courts 
of the territory or in the United States District Court for 
the District of Puerto Rico shall continue until their final 
disposition and shall be submitted to the competent author-
ity of the nation of Puerto Rico for proper execution: Pro-
vided, That neither the United States nor any of its officers 
is a party, in which case any final judgment shall be prop-
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