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Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Pierluisi Seeks Senate Action on Status

“The time for excuses is over”

WASHINGTON, DC- The Resident Commissioner, Pedro Pierluisi, today asked the U.S. Senate to follow the House of Representatives’ lead by enabling the people of Puerto Rico to express their views on the Island’s political destiny through a congressionally-authorized plebiscite process.

Pierluisi emphasized the bipartisan support his status bill, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act, obtained in the House of Representatives.

“In passing H.R. 2499 by a large margin, the House clarified that there are only three possible alternatives to the current status. House passage helped ensure that the forthcoming plebiscite process in Puerto Rico will be a meaningful exercise in self-determination, since voters will finally have the opportunity to express their preference among the valid—and only the valid—status options,” Pierluisi said in his statement before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, presided by Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM).

“Puerto Rico is a U.S territory. Whatever its merits, territorial status has severe and inherent shortcomings. The U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico, four million proud, serve in the U.S. military and their lives are governed by federal law. Yet they cannot vote for their president and commander-in-chief, are not represented in the Senate, and send a single non-voting member to the House,” Pierluisi said.

H.R. 2499 authorizes the government of Puerto Rico to conduct an initial plebiscite, where voters would choose whether they wish to maintain the current status or to have a different status. If a majority of voters desires a new status, voters would have the opportunity to express their preference among the current status, independence, statehood, and free association with the United States.

“This first plebiscite is the essence of democracy. It would ask the people of Puerto Rico the most fundamental question in a democracy: do you consent to the current status, with all its pros and cons, or would you prefer to pursue a different arrangement? All of the valid options will be on the ballot in the second plebiscite, so there can be no claim that the bill excludes or favors any option,” Pierluisi said.

“Of course there is opposition to the bill in certain quarters in Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico, as in any vibrant democracy, complete consensus is not possible or realistic. Those who claim we should not act because the bill does not have unanimous support in Puerto Rico are simply looking for excuses not to act. But the time for excuses is over,” Pierluisi said.