Statement by the Hon. Luis Muñoz Marín, Governor of The

- STATEMENT BY THE HON. LUIS MUNOZ MARIN, GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO, BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS, WITH REFERENCE TO S.2023. June 9, 1959. MR. CHAIRMAN, Members of the Committee: I wish to thank the Committee for its interest and courtesy in affording me the opportunity to appear before it in support of s.2023 which embodies the proposals of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, by Joint Resolution No. 2 of its Legislative Assembly, for clarification of the compact exist ing between the Federal Union and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and for certain modifications of its provisions. In the name of the Commonwealth, of its Legislature and its people, as well as in my own, I express our deep appreciation to the Committee. The Congress of the United States and the people of - Puerto Rico can feel a legitimate pride in having created the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, in having made, in a typically dynamic American way, an adaptation to the federal form of government that encompasses a new, creative termination of a colonial situation for a community beset by economic scarcity; and in doing so by -passing a narrow nationalism as well as an assimilation to what had been the only pattern of the American Union. Puerto Rican conditions were unadaptable to both solu tions. A state, in the generic sense of the word (a people ) - 2 - organized politically to govern themselves) was created in 1952 on the basis of an enabling act, approved by the Congress 11 in the nature of a compact 11 and ratified by the people of Puerto Rico at the polls, on the basis of which a constitu tional government was established within terms of association with the Federal Union. The process was as follows: The issue of what kind of political status the people ( of Puerto Rico wanted was the main decision debated and called for in the election campaign of 1948. Three political parties contested that election. The Popular Democratic Party stood for the basic outline of what later became the Commonwealth relationship; the Statehood Republican Party, in coalition with the Socialist and Reformist Parties, stood for classic federated statehood; the Independentist Party stood for Independence. The Popular Democratic Party described ( the three solutions to the people as different in structure and content but equal, we may say equivalent, in political dignity. The Commonwealth would be ·a state associated with the Union in a new manner by compact and its creation would be based as in the case of a federated state, not on unilat eral congressional action but on congressional action together with the action of the Puerto Rican voters. The result of the election in round numbers was: the party proposing Commonwealth status, 392,000 votes; the coali tion proposing federated statehood, 184,000 votes; the party - 3 - proposing independence, 65,000 votes. In percentages, 61%, 29% and 10% respectively. As a result of that mandate, our Resident Commissioner introduced in the House of Representatives what became Public Law 600, of 1950. The legislation was sponsored in the Senate by Senators O'Mahoney of Wyoming and Butler of Nebraska. This law, as I have indicated, set in motion the process by ( which the Commonwealth was created. It also determined what the relationship between Puerto Rico and the Union would be. It did this by retaining, under the name of the Federal Relations Act, certain parts of the Organic Act of 1917, which in turn referred to the Organic Act of 1900. They were those not relating to the internal government of Puerto Rico (which would be established by the Commonwealth Constitution). The effect of this was to continue in the federal government - ( the functions relating to political and economic international relations, defense, currency, citizenship, federal judiciary and generally the same powers as in regard to a classical state. On the basis of this enabling act a Constitutional Convention was elected and it wrote and presented to the people a Constitution which the voters overwhelmingly approved. The Constitution came through the President to the considera tion of Congress, in accordance with the terms of Public Law 600. The Congress approved it with certain conditions - 4 .:. which the Constitutional Convention accepted. On the proudest day in Puerto Rican history -- July 25th, 1952 I had the honor of raising the historic Puerto Rican flag (created as a symbol of rebellion against tyranny during Spanish times) to the top of a flagpole erected on the left side of the one where the American flag flew, a symbol beloved by the Puerto Rican people. This was a proud day also for the Congress of the United States and for the American people as a whole. Although the economic and fiscal relationship between Puerto Rico and the Federal Union remained the same, satis factorily the same, as it had been since 1900, the spiritual energy released by having attained a status of political equality, based on an equivalent political dignity -- the com mon denominator being the principles of compact and consent C , put a new drive into the great effort of the Puerto Rican people to conquer their age-old poverty, to defeat economic underdevelopment, to work at the creation of .a civiliza tion worthy of their heart 1s approval as well as of their proud association with the great American Republic. This process, this adaptation of the American system to a complex and anguishing situation not otherwise solvable, had been made possible by a previous manifestation of the dynamic quality of that system, by its refusal to be rendered impotent by the emergence of new circumstances, by its capa bility for enlarging the scope of its great basic principles - 5 - to include the new circumstances. Before 1898, the year in which new human communities of different cultural backgrounds and of complicated economic problems came under the sover eignty of the United States, only two political forms existed in the American system: incorporated territories and federated states. Under those two categories the American people were hamstrung to deal with a new situation to which those categories were entirely unsuited. The Congress created and the Supreme Court sustained the concept of unincorporated territory, which gave the federal government scope for what Justice Frankfurter later called "creative statesmanship". It was this seed of wisdom planted in 1900 that made possible the full flowering and greater wisdom of the Commonwealth concept as developed in Puerto Rico. We have seen the meaning of this to the spirit of the ( Puerto Rican people. A wider significance, related to the better understanding of what the United States means in the free world, can be derived f'rom the fact that the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, collaborating with the State Department at its own initiative, is conducting and constantly broadening a program of Technical Assistance for the benefit of other · underdeveloped areas in Latin America, in Asia, in Africa, in some parts of Europe, which the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs has recognized, we are very proud to say, as an impor tant contribution to the foreign policies of the United States. 6 Close to 9,000 visitors from all over the world have availed themselves of this program in Puerto Rico and there is no question that, even with ?uerto Rico's great economic pro gress, if the political relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States had not been one of basic political equality and dignity the effects of this program would not have been nearly as satisfactory. I am about to sign a new agreement with the International Cooperation Administration, which ( will make more effective the Commonwealth contribution, not only in money but in experience and services to the United States technical assistance program with Latin America and other regions. A fact of fundamental significance connected with this is the Resolution of the United Nations approved in 1953 to the effect that Puerto Rico had ceased to be a dependency under Article 73 of the United Nations Charter and that there ( fore the United States was no longer obligated to render reports to that world body on Puerto Rico. The United States was rendering such reports with respect to Puerto Rico as a dependent area in the same manner that other nations were required to report concerning their colonies. The United States made this presentation to the United Nations at the request of the Cozmnonwealth government. I quote from the memorandum of the United States to the United Nations on this subject: "With the establishment of the Conunonwealth of 7 Puerto Rico the people of Puerto Rico have attained a full measure of self-government •••• By the various actions taken by the Congress and the people of Puerto Rico, Congress has agreed that Puerto Rico shall have, under the Constitution, freedom from control or inter ference by the Congress in respect of internal govern ment and administration subject only to compliance with applicable provisions of the Federal Constitution, the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act and the acts of Congress authorizing and approving the Constitution, as may be interpreted by Judicial decision. 11 Mrs. Frances P. Bolton, a member of Congress and a United States delegate to the United Nations, made clear the ( great constitutional changes which had occurred in Puerto Rico and spoke as follows: "The authority of the Conunonwealth of Puerto Rico is not more limited than that of any state of the Union; in fact, in certain aspects is much wider ••••• "It should be remembered that the functions of the Federal Government in Puerto Rico are carried out under the same laws and within the same constitutional limitations under which they are carried on in behalf of the states.

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