Albert Russell Wynn: “Mr. Chairman, the essence of the bill before us today is to allow the people of Puerto Rico to make the decisions about…”

“Mr. Chairman, the essence of the bill before us today is to allow the people of Puerto Rico to make the decisions about their own destiny, what we like to refer to as self-determination. For the last few decades we have talked long and often hard about the importance of self-determination in all parts of the world: in Russia, in Cuba, around the globe. It is now time to talk about self-determination for one of our nearest neighbors. This is not that complicated. That is the beauty of democratic elections. Members have heard here today that there are lots of points of view about this issue within Puerto Rico. Those differences can be resolved by democratic elections. That is what we are here today to do, not to impose any particular form of government, be it statehood, independence, or Commonwealth status, but rather, to let the people, the people themselves decide what form of government they believe is most desirable. The point is that today Puerto Ricans can fight in our wars but cannot elect the Commander in Chief.”