Rep. Nydia Velazquez announced her retirement after more than 30 years in Congress representing Brooklyn. Velazquez was the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress. She was also the first woman and the first Latina t chair the House Small Business Committee, and served as the chair of the House Hispanic Caucus as well. Velazquez was well known for her support of small business, veterans, and people in need. She also frequently called for support of Puerto Rico, in terms of disaster funding, equity in federal programs, and economic development. She became Director of the Department of Puerto Rican Community Affairs in the United States and was named “Woman of the Year” by Hispanic Business Magazine.
Throughout her impressive career, Velazquez has supported working people and social justice.
The congresswoman was born one of nine children in Yabucoa. She was the first of her family to earn a high school diploma, but deep political discussions were the usual dinnertime conversation in her family. She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras and then moved to New York to complete graduate work at New York University. She returned to Puerto Rico to teach at the university at Humacao, but left after five years to live in New York. “Today I stand on the shoulders of millions of Puerto Ricans who had to flee Puerto Rico because its colonial condition has not allowed them to live on the island where they were born,” she said in 2022.
Velazquez’s positions on Puerto Rico’s political status
Velazquez now recognizes Puerto Rico’s colonial condition, but she didn’t start out that way. In 1997, Rep. Velazquez said in a Congressional hearing that “the United States government went to the United Nations and stated very clearly that the people of Puerto Rico achieved self-government through a bilateral compact.”
In the same hearing, Gov. Pedro Rossello said, “I am still looking for that bilateral compact. I haven’t found it anyplace.”
Status expert Howard Hills clarified the situation: “Quotations from statements made by U.S. diplomats in the United Nations back in 1953 are being used to support the theory that, as a result of approving the local constitution in 1952, Congress is bound forever by a ‘bilateral compact’’ that is unalterable without the consent of Puerto Rico. Again, I would refer them to the analysis of U.N. process in 1953 set forth on pages 11 through 23 of House Report 104-713. The notion that Puerto Rico has somehow been converted from an unincorporated territory to a permanent commonwealth status is erroneous and unconstitutional. In 1953, the U.S. informed the U.N. that the precise nature of the relationship would be subject to ‘judicial interpretation’’ and that local self-government was limited to ‘internal affairs and administration.’ Furthermore, in the case of Harris v. Rosario, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Puerto Rico remains an unincorporated territory subject to the plenary authority of Congress under the territorial clause of the Constitution.”
In 2020, shortly before the referendum in which the voters of Puerto Rico chose statehood for the third time, Velazquez led a “Self-Determination” bill calling for a status convention or constitutional assembly to come up with options for the permanent political status of Puerto Rico. This bill was actually a repeat of a bill first introduced in 1989 and reintroduced periodically over the years with slight updates. In addition to being slow and complicated, this bill also allowed consideration of status options which have been rejected as unconstitutional under the U.S. Constitution — such as “enhanced commonwealth.” Velazquez responded to concerns about this point by saying that “We [Congress] hold the pen.” Congress cannot actually pass laws that do not follow the Constitution.
By 2022, Velazquez was calling Puerto Rico a colony. She worked together with Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, who was at that time the Resident Commissioner for Puerto Rico, to put together The Puerto Rico Status Act. The Puerto Rico Status Act called for a binding vote among the three viable political status options for Puerto Rico: statehood, independence, or free association. While the PRSA included a definition of free association that had much in common with previous ideas about “enhanced commonwealth,” it did not include either “commonwealth status” or the current territorial status.
The Puerto Rico Status Act passed the House in December 2022, without enough time to make it through the Senate and become law. In 2024, Puerto Rico voters again chose statehood, with a majority of 58%. If The Puerto Rico Status Act or a similar bill passes again in the future, it is most likely that Puerto Rico will once again choose statehood.
While Rep. Velazquez was not a statehood supporter, she was a supporter of Puerto Rico. We wish her every success in whatever endeavors she chooses next.
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