José E. Serrano: “I am not even going to try to make an argument against some of the things I have heard here today, because I realize…”

“I am not even going to try to make an argument against some of the things I have heard here today, because I realize that one of the most difficult things to do here today or this week or this year or any time is to sound like we are speaking on behalf of terrorism. We are not. As has been stated over and over again, this is an issue of national reconciliation. The fact is that as Puerto Rico faces 101 years of a relationship with the United States, a relationship which started with an invasion in 1898, and has reached the point where Puerto Rico is still not an independent Nation, nor is it a State of the Union, that we will always have these kinds of discussions. Some people will demonstrate to change that status question. Some people will lobby to change that status question. Some people in the past chose to be part of organizations that chose other methods. Let me briefly just state the fact that these particular people that we are talking about were not charged with nor were they convicted of any acts of violence. That is a fact. When the President offered the clemency, he and the White House and the government understood that. What I would like to do today for a couple of minutes is make a plea with the American people, a plea to try for a second, for one moment in our lives, to look beyond the issue as we see it, the issue of violence, the issue of anti-American sentiment, if that is the case.”