The Public Record
Pedro R. Pierluisi is the current Governor of Puerto Rico, having assumed office on January 2, 2021. He is a member of the Democratic Party and previously served as the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2009 to 2017. Pierluisi has focused on issues such as economic development, education reform, and the recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria. His leadership has been marked by efforts to address Puerto Rico's fiscal challenges and promote its political status. Pierluisi has also been an advocate for statehood for Puerto Rico, emphasizing the need for equal treatment of Puerto Ricans under U.S. law.
Vieques and Culebra are two island municipalities of Puerto Rico. Each is home to beautiful beaches, to rich animal and plant life, and to warm, welcoming people. For decades, the two islands were used as military training ranges. The U.S…
Yesterday, the junior Senator from Mississippi and the junior Senator from West Virginia spoke on the Senate floor about Puerto Rico's political status. Because Puerto Rico is a territory and not a State, we have no Senators who can…
Over the last several months, the press has been filled with stories about the severe economic problems in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. These economic problems have aggravated social problems like crime, have generated anxiety for…
Monday was Veterans Day, when our Nation pays tribute to those who have served honorably in the Armed Forces. Today, I rise to express my gratitude to the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines from Puerto Rico, both those who are living…
Monday marked the 10th anniversary of the passing of Luis Ferre. I rise this morning to pay tribute to this giant of a man whom The New York Times called the ``dominant force in the politics, economy and culture of Puerto Rico'' for much…
I support the en bloc amendment, which includes an amendment I filed. Since 1986, the other U.S. territories have been given partial relief--up to $200,000--from the local cost-sharing requirements for Army Corps projects. The bill…
The bill provides that the President shall submit an admission bill admitting Puerto Rico as a State within the period of 180 days.
We are proud American citizens. If you poll in Puerto Rico whether people want to continue having their American citizenship, it's going to be like 80 or 90 percent again.
In the 21st century, in the most democratic nation on earth, this is astonishing.
The Puerto Rican electorate served notice last November that they do not wish to continue being governed in the way and through the institutions and laws that, by their own accord, govern them currently.
Discussion of status is a way to ignore and to keep ignoring the real issue: denial of voting rights, denial of participating in our nation's democratic process and denial of economic equality and opportunities for Hispanic Americans in…
There is consensus that territory status is the root cause of the economic problems that have persisted in Puerto Rico for at least 4 decades.
To expect a Presidential Administration to feel the same obligation to support Puerto Rico as it does the states is to substitute hope for experience.
You cannot solve the problem of our status by including the very option that was rejected by our people.
What the pro-statehood party is asking you, Chairman and this committee, is to be accomplice of that Democratic crime, crime against democracy.
There should be no dispute in this Senate or in Puerto Rico that in response to the results of the plebiscite, this Senate should proceed to approve an enabling act to admit Puerto Rico to the Union.
By definition when you pose a question that's a yes or no question you're not excluding anybody...
What the PDP has been proposing for a long time now is that the relationship between Puerto Rico and the U.S. be based on a compact or treaty that cannot be changed by either party, must be changed by mutual agreement.
No Senator would accept territory status for their constituents. So you must respect that my constituents do not accept it either.
Politicians like Pedro Pierluisi
