I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 727 
To set forth the process for Puerto Rico to be admitted as a State of 
the Union. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 4, 2015 
Mr. PIERLUISI (for himself, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. BEYER, Ms. BORDALLO, Ms. 
BROWN of Florida, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. 
CICILLINE, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. COSTA, 
Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. CURBELO of Florida, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. DIAZ- 
BALART, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. 
GABBARD, Mr. GRAYSON, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HOYER, Mr. 
HUFFMAN, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KIND, Mr. KING of New 
York, Mr. LABRADOR, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. 
MARINO, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. MICA, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Ms. NORTON, 
Ms. PLASKETT, Mr. POLIS, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. RIBBLE, Ms. ROS- 
LEHTINEN, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHOCK, Mr. 
TAKAI, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. MAXINE WATERS 
of California, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. YOUNG of Alaska) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To set forth the process for Puerto Rico to be admitted 
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, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Puerto Rico Statehood 
Admission Process Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) In 1898, Puerto Rico became a United 
States territory and persons born in Puerto Rico 
have been granted United States citizenship since 
1917, pursuant to Public Law 64–368. 
(2) In 1950, Congress enacted Public Law 81– 
600, authorizing Puerto Rico to draft a local con-
stitution. In 1951, a constitutional convention was 
held in Puerto Rico to draft the constitution. On 
March 3, 1952, Puerto Rico ratified the constitution 
and submitted it for approval by Congress. On July 
3, 1952, Congress enacted Public Law 82–447, 
which made changes to the constitution, and ap-
proved the constitution subject to Puerto Rico’s ac-
ceptance of these changes. The changes were accept-
ed by the delegates to the constitutional convention, 
and the constitution of Puerto Rico took effect on 
July 25, 1952. The constitution establishes a repub-
lican form of government, is not repugnant to the 
Constitution of the United States, and is the func-
tional equivalent of a state constitution. 
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(3) On November 6, 2012, the Government of 
Puerto Rico held a two-part plebiscite organized 
under local law. The first question asked voters if 
Puerto Rico should continue to be a territory, and 
54 percent of voters rejected territory status. The 
second question asked voters to express their pref-
erence among the three possible alternatives to terri-
tory status—statehood, independence, and nation-
hood in free association with the United States—and 
61 percent of voters who selected an option chose 
statehood. The number of votes cast for statehood 
on the second question exceeded the number of votes 
cast for continued territory status on the first ques-
tion. 
(4) On August 1, 2013, the Committee on En-
ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate held a 
hearing to receive testimony on the 2012 plebiscite. 
In his opening statement, the Chairman of the Com-
mittee said that ‘‘there is no disputing that a major-
ity of the voters in Puerto Rico—54 percent—have 
clearly expressed their opposition to continuing the 
current territorial status’’. The ranking minority 
member of the Committee agreed, stating that ‘‘it is 
clear to me that the majority of Puerto Ricans do 
not favor the current territorial status’’. 
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