I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1965 
To set forth the terms for the admission of the territory of Puerto Rico 
as a State of the Union. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 28, 2019 
Mr. SOTO (for himself and Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puerto Rico) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To set forth the terms for the admission of the territory 
of Puerto Rico as a State of the Union. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Puerto Rico Admission 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) the duly elected legislature of Puerto Rico 
passed legislation to hold a plebiscite on the status 
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of Puerto Rico, which was enacted on June 11, 
2017; 
(2) in that plebiscite, voters were given choices: 
Statehood, Free Association/Independence, Current 
Territorial Status; 
(3) that plebiscite was duly noticed and held on 
June 11, 2017 in accordance with all Puerto Rico 
and Federal laws; 
(4) that plebiscite was satisfactorily observed by 
a bipartisan Congressional Delegation of Represent-
ative Don Young and Representative Darren Soto; 
and 
(5) 97.2 percent of votes favored Statehood. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of the Act is to set forth the terms for 
the admission of the territory of Puerto Rico as a State 
of the Union. 
SEC. 4. ADMISSION INTO THE UNION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of this 
Act, upon issuance of the proclamation required by section 
5, the State of Puerto Rico is declared to be a State of 
the United States of America, and is declared admitted 
into the Union on an equal footing with the other States 
in all respects whatever. 
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(2) CONTINUITY
OF
GOVERNMENT.—Persons 
holding executive, legislative, and judicial offices in 
the Government of Puerto Rico shall continue to dis-
charge the duties of their respective offices con-
sistent with the United States Constitution, Federal 
laws applicable to Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Con-
stitution, and the laws of the State of Puerto Rico. 
(3) CONTINUITY OF LAWS.— 
(A) TERRITORY LAW.—All of the territory 
laws in force in Puerto Rico on the date of the 
enactment of this Act shall— 
(i) continue in force and effect in the 
State, except as modified by this Act; and 
(ii) be subject to repeal or amendment 
by the legislature and the Governor of 
Puerto Rico. 
(B) FEDERAL LAW.—All of the laws of the 
United States shall have the same force and ef-
fect as on the date immediately prior to the 
date of admission of Puerto Rico into the Union 
as a State, except for any provision of law that 
treats Puerto Rico and its residents differently 
than the States of the Union and their resi-
dents, which shall be amended as of the date of 
admission to treat the State of Puerto Rico and 
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its residents equally with the other States of the 
Union and their residents. 
(4) UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP.—No provi-
sion of this Act shall operate to confer United States 
citizenship, nor terminate citizenship hereto lawfully 
acquired, nor restore citizenship terminated or lost 
under any law of the United States or under any 
treaty to which the United States is or was a party. 
SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this Act, or any section, sub-
section, sentence, clause, phrase, or individual word, or the 
application thereof to any person or circumstance is held 
invalid, the validity of the remainder of the Act and of 
the application of any such provision, section, subsection, 
sentence, clause, phrase, or individual word to other per-
sons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby. 
Æ 
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