C. W. Bill Young: “Mr. Chairman, we have embarked on one of the more significant debates this Congress will have in this 2-year period…”

“Mr. Chairman, we have embarked on one of the more significant debates this Congress will have in this 2-year period, maybe one of the more significant debates that we can have because we are trying to find a way to resolve concerns we all have about a part of the United States. Make no mistake about it, Puerto Rico is part of the United States. In my State of Florida, which is right next door, it is a neighbor, it is a very friendly neighbor, the people of Puerto Rico are citizens of the United States. There are no Customs checks or boundaries between our country and theirs or my State and Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth. It is a funny kind of status to most of us because we do not think of it in that way very often, at least I do not. I know that anybody who lives in Puerto Rico can come live at my State or Texas or Minnesota or New York, anywhere, any time they want to. That is fine. Travel is free. People talk to each other all the time. There is a common bond that is there. And I think it is important for us as we debate this bill today to recognize the depth of this relationship and the importance of it and the tenderness of it. The people of Puerto Rico have sacrificed many times over for the United States.”