Once Puerto Rico settles its political status once and for all, I am sure and I have no doubt our economy will prosper.

We deserve equality as American citizens, and we will not stop this fight until we achieve it.

The right to vote, to participate in politics, and to shape the direction of the democracy we share...

Definitely. That is what we are talking about mostly. It has economic development implications, quality of life implications, but at its heart this is a civil rights issue.

the beauty or wisdom of this vote is that it is all-inclusive.

I was just introducing 12 letters for the record, Mr. Chairman.

We had not had a majority vote, a clear-cut majority vote in a long time in dealing with the status of Puerto Rico.

a Resident Commissioner in Congress from the Territory of Puerto Rico.

Let me be clear. There is nothing that this other bill, or this other legislation, will offer Puerto Rico that has not been already discussed in 123 years. It is nothing new.

A yes-or-no vote cannot be fairer. A yes-or-no vote cannot be more inclusive.

Puerto Ricans are not immigrants. Puerto Ricans are American citizens.

As in any democracy, in Puerto Rico the majority rules.

Democracy will not be denied.

Not only that--the bill shamelessly ignores the will of voters in Puerto Rico, ignores a legitimate democratic process, and ignores self-determination, despite the bill's misleading title.

those margins are not good enough for the people of Puerto Rico to establish their vote for statehood.

All those people that campaigned and voted against the statehood bill in the yes-or-no questions in November, do they have the right to overcome that majority?

This bill was introduced earlier this year by Congresswoman Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon (R-PR-AL) and Congressman Darren Soto (D-FL-9)

There is nowhere to hide anymore, this Congress has the responsibility to act, and act now.