Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my dear friend and colleague, Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart, for yielding me the time. I rise in strong support of the underlying legislation, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act, and I commend the bill's author--we just heard from him--Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, for his work in bringing this important legislation to the floor this morning. And I would be remiss if I did not also recognize the efforts of our former colleague Luis Fortuno, now the Governor of Puerto Rico, for his many years of leadership on this issue. This day has been long in the making. With a population of nearly 4 million people, the people of Puerto Rico deserve the opportunity to decide their fate. Puerto Rico has been under the U.S. flag for 111 years, and its residents have been U.S. citizens for more than 90 years. Since the extension of U.S. citizenship to its residents in 1917, Puerto Rico has maintained one of the highest per capita rates of participation in the U.S. Armed Forces. Puerto Ricans have fought and have died in every armed conflict since the First World War. And yet while Puerto Ricans have fought valiantly for self-determination overseas, they have never been given the opportunity to participate in a federally sanctioned vote to determine Puerto Rico's political status. That is until today. H.R. 2499 authorizes the government of Puerto Rico to conduct an initial plebiscite.…”