S. 2944 vs. S. 3231

The upcoming Senate hearing on the Puerto Rico Status Act will be broadcast live at 2:30 p.m. on June 18th, 2024.  The official announcement explains that

“The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills:

• S. 2944, to enable the people of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to determine the political status of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and for other purposes (Wicker);
• S. 3231, to enable the people of Puerto Rico to choose a permanent, nonterritorial, fully self-governing political status for Puerto Rico and to provide for a transition to and the implementation of that permanent, nonterritorial, fully self-governing political status, and for other purposes (Heinrich)”

Both bills are named “Puerto Rico Status Act” but they are not the same.

S. 3231

This bill is the companion bill to the House version, HR 2757. This is the bill that was passed in the House in 2022.  It offers a choice for Puerto Rico voters of three status options:

• Statehood: “The State of Puerto Rico is admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the other States in all respects whatever and is a part of the permanent union of the United States of America, subject to the United States Constitution, with powers not prohibited by the Constitution to the States and reserved to the State of Puerto Rico or to its residents.”
• Independence: “Puerto Rico is a sovereign nation that has full authority and responsibility over its territory and population under a constitution of its own adoption which shall be the supreme law of the nation.”
• Sovereign free association: “Puerto Rico is a sovereign nation that has full authority and responsibility over its territory and population under a constitution of its own adoption which shall be the supreme law of the nation.”

There are longer definitions in the bill. The biggest differences between independence and sovereign free association are in the plans for U.S. citizenship and the articles of free association. Both status options say in their definitions that current U.S. citizens born in Puerto Rico could keep their U.S. citizenship, but the truth is that a future Congress could change that. When the Philippines became independent, Filipinos living in the states became foreigners and lost their U.S. national status. This could happen to Puerto Ricans, too.

U.S. Citizenship under Puerto Rican Independence

The bill also includes transition processes for the three status options and instructions for voter education and for voting. If this bill passes, Puerto Rico will not continue as a territory of the United States. The political status of Puerto Rico will change either to statehood or a form of independence, and the colony will end.

S. 2944

This bill is a horse of a different color. It offers a vote among four options:

• Independence: “Puerto Rico is a sovereign nation that has full authority and responsibility over its territory and population under a constitution of its own adoption which shall be the supreme law of the nation.”
• Sovereignty in free association: “Puerto Rico is a sovereign nation that has full authority and responsibility over its territory and population under a constitution of its own adoption, which shall be the supreme law of the nation.”
• Statehood: “The State of Puerto Rico shall request admission into the Union of the United States on an equal footing with the other States in all respects and as a part of the permanent Union of the United States, subject to the Constitution of the United States, with powers not prohibited by the Constitution of the United States to the States reserved to the State of Puerto Rico.”
• Commonwealth: “The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall be united to the United States by a formal compact of political autonomy. The compact shall have the character of a permanent relationship and shall establish, as public policy of the United States, that any modification to the relationship shall be approved by the people of Puerto Rico by referendum.”

Note that statehood under S. 3231 says that “Puerto Rico is admitted” while under S. 2944 “Puerto Rico shall request admission” — which Puerto Rico has already done. Independence and sovereign free association are much the same as in S. 3231, except that this bill emphasizes the fact that Congress has the right to change immigration laws at any time. This is true under both bills, of course.  Both of the independence variations includes free transit for citizens of Puerto Rico.

The statehood option under S. 2944 includes  “a study on the readiness of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for statehood, under which the Comptroller General of the United States shall examine…” a long list of items, including whether the majority voting for statehood might not continue to be a minority in the future, whether Puerto Rico is rich enough to be a state, whether it would be bad for the U.S. as a while to have a Spanish-speaking state with a high level of poverty, and so forth. This study is expected to take two years to complete.

After the study is turned in, the House and Senate will vote on whether or not to admit Puerto Rico. In other words, S. 2944 does not offer statehood to Puerto Rico. It offers at least two years of further study of the question followed by another vote in Congress. There is then another year before Puerto Rico would be admitted as a state, and the bills specifies that the territory would remain unincorporated until admission.

Commonwealth

S. 2944 is not, like S. 3231, a definite end to the colonial relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States. It includes the “commonwealth” option. The territory of Puerto Rico is called “the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico” just as the state of Kentucky is called “the Commonwealth of Kentucky.” The term has no practical or legal meaning. Nor does the bill define it.

Instead, there will be  a ‘‘Bilateral Negotiating Commission’’, which shall conduct studies and negotiations on changes  to the Commonwealth-Estado Libre Asociado status within the general framework of commonwealth status, including the potential for a compact agreement between the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to replace the Act of July 3, 1950.” Since “commonwealth status” is equivalent to unincorporated territory status, this statement about “commonwealth status” is essentially meaningless.

However, the Bilateral Negotiating Commission will have two years to draft a compact between the United States and Puerto Rico which could then be ratified by Puerto Rico voters and Congress. If it is not ratified, the procedure will start over.

Outcomes

Under S. 3231, the colonial relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States will end and Puerto Rico will have a permanent political status agreed upon by the residents of the Island. Under S. 2944, the status quo is a real option. Independence with or without free association could take place within a couple of years. Statehood would merely continue to be debated.

Please contact your senators and ask them to attend the hearing, and to read the two bills and note the difference between the two. They are absolutely not the same.