HM 147 — Status of Puerto Rico

F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S  ENROLLED CS/HM 147 2018 Legislature House Memorial A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging Congress to apply law and policy in Puerto Rico without discrimination or inequality and to incorporate the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico into the United States.

hm0147-01-c1hm0147-02-er F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S  ENROLLED CS/HM 147 2018 Legislature United States Supreme Court reiterated the holding of the Insular Cases and ruled that the United States Constitution applied only in part in the unincorporated territories, thus affirming the denial of right to trial by jury to the petitioner in that case, and WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court in Balzac also found that incorporation into the United States was a key step to statehood for any territory, and the incorporation could only be accomplished by express congressional declaration or by "implication so strong as to exclude any other view," and WHEREAS, in 1950 Congress authorized the people of Puerto Rico to conduct a constitutional convention for the purpose of developing a constitution providing for more complete self- government by Puerto Rico, requiring such constitution to provide both a republican form of government and a bill of rights, and WHEREAS, requiring a republican form of government to each state is a duty of the United States Congress under Article IV, section 4, of the United States Constitution, and WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority granted by the United States Congress, the people of Puerto Rico met in convention and drafted a constitution meeting the requirements of the 1950 act, and the United States Congress approved the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 1952, and WHEREAS, the territorial histories of other states such as Page 2 of 5 CODING:

hm0147-01-c1hm0147-02-er F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S  ENROLLED CS/HM 147 2018 Legislature Louisiana, Alaska, and Hawaii, demonstrate a similar progress of self-government, from early congressional acts establishing basic civil government, to a more formally structured government conducted by the people of the particular territory, to approval of an official state constitution, and WHEREAS, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico was approved before congressional approval of the proposed state constitutions for Alaska and Hawaii, and the subsequent admission of those states into the Union, and WHEREAS, the granting of United States citizenship to the people of Puerto Rico, requiring their self-governing constitution to provide for a republican form of government and a bill of rights, admitting residents of Puerto Rico into the Armed Forces of the United States in which they have bravely and honorably defended the United States as duty has required, integrating all aspects of the economy of Puerto Rico into the greater economy of the United States, and evolving the Puerto Rico laws and judicial system from their Spanish origins into provisions and process consistent with the laws and jurisprudence of the United States, creates the strong and clear implication that Puerto Rico de facto has been incorporated into the United States, and WHEREAS, citizens of the United States residing in Puerto Rico currently are not entitled to the same treatment under certain federal laws, such as the provision of Supplemental Page 3 of 5 CODING:

hm0147-01-c1hm0147-02-er F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S  ENROLLED CS/HM 147 2018 Legislature Security Income from the Social Security Administration, as are other citizens of the United States residing in the several states of the Union, and WHEREAS, the denial of equal treatment of United States citizens residing in Puerto Rico under certain federal laws is justified solely on the basis that Puerto Rico is not incorporated into the United States despite over one hundred years of assimilation into the culture, economy, and political process of the United States, and WHEREAS, the recent catastrophic impacts to Puerto Rico of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and the federal response to the resulting humanitarian crisis, demonstrates compelling need for the incorporation of Puerto Rico into the United States so that responses to natural disasters in Puerto Rico have the same priority and are conducted on the same basis as federal responses to natural disasters elsewhere in the United States, and WHEREAS, integration into the United States, while necessary to move towards statehood, will not automatically confer statehood on Puerto Rico, NOW, THEREFORE, 97 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

hm0147-01-c1hm0147-02-er F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S  ENROLLED CS/HM 147 2018 Legislature into the United States and to apply all law and policy in Puerto Rico on the same basis as in a state of the union without discrimination or inequality.

hm0147-01-c1hm0147-02-er