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Speech of Congressman Herman Badillo of New York, May 4, 1971

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Speech of Congressman Herman Badillo of New York, May 4, 1971 / ~ ·· • NEWS FROM ROOM 510 CANNON BLDG. Congressman HERMAN BADILLO WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515 21st DISTRICT - NEW YORK (The Tri-borough district) CONTACT: BRONX, MANHATTAN, QUEENS Paul A. Schosberg [Washington] (202) 225-4361 James S. Vlasto [New York] (2 12) 686-4800 FOR P.M. RELEASE TUESDAY, MAY 4, 1971 WASHINGTON THE UNITED STATES AND PUERTO RICO Speech of CONGRESSMAN HERMAN BADILLO OF NEW YORK in the House of Representatives Tuesday, , :-1-:i.:· 4, 1.9 71 Mr. Speaker, the 2.7 million Puerto Ricans on the island of Puerto Rico and the 1.5 million in the United States represent one, cohesive social and cultural body and comfuunity. Solutions to the many and varied problems \·.Tith which this community is confronted cannot be left to the Governor o ·f · Puerto Rico, the Mayor of New York City or other state and local of.fici ~Js a ·lone. We, in the Congress, have a responsibility to help meet the n·eeds of all these -- both on the mainland and on the island -~ and we must develop a coordinated and meaningful policy to deal with this community. I propose, there­ fore, the implementation of a four· point program to begin to cope with the problems facing Puerto Ricans today: 1. In every legislative act that is submitted to this Congress that has to do with providing services to the American citizen in housing, welfare, health, e~ucation, job training, or in any other manner, I will request and, if necessary, submit amendments to insure that American citizens living on the island of Puerto Rico receive the benefits of such legislation to the same extent as ~erican citizens living on the United States mainland; 2. I propose and urge the Federal and Commonwealth administra­ tions to immediately undertake a thorough study of the island's economic status with a view toward developing and presenting to the Congress an economic program which will insure that the standard of living of American citizens living on the island of Puerto Rico can be comparable to the standard of living of American citizens livin~ on the mainland; 3. I will prop_qse legislation to authorize community and economic development programs in New York City and other parts of the country to · serve American citizens of Puerto Rican origin and, specifically, to authorize programs for education, manpo ~er training and community development to be carried out in English and Spanish and with the needs of the Puerto Rican community built into the programs; and, 4. I urge the establishment of a national · employrnent bank under which Puerto Ricans who must seek jobs on the mainland could be trained in P'.. 1 ~rto Rico to work in identifiable cxi$ting jobs in different parts of the mainland and at the same time receive such training, including in writing and s :1e a_]<_.:!.. r .g J::he English language, as would make it possible for them to be full participants in mainland life. page 2 Herman Badillo - Puerto Rico 1. Including American citizens from Puerto Rico in legislation designed to benefit other American citizens. r-1uch discus sion has been devoted to Puerto Rico Is political future -- whether it should maintain its present Commonwealth status, whether it should be admitted as the Slst f tate or whether it should be an independent country. This is a question which only the people of Puerto Rico should decide, free of any outside influence or pressure. However, until such time as a final decision is made by the people of Puerto Rico, the U.S. and the Congress have an obliga­ tion to recognize that Puerto Ricans are American citizens and to make certain that Puerto Rico receives its fair share of Federal aid and assistance. Not only is Puerto Rico specifically excluded by statute from nine Federal programs, including the school milk program, the food stamp program and a portion of the Social Security program, but it is also continually discriminated against through unrealistic and arbitrary ceili ngs or disciminatory formulas based on the low per capita income. Puerto Rico is presently being short-changed in such areas as school lunches, health and welfare programs and educational assistance. There is no logical reason in my mind why Puerto Rico should not be treated the se>.me as one of the states. Some of my colleagues will immediately cry that why should Puerto Rico receive equal treatment when it does not contribute to the general revenues through income tax? Mr. Speaker, if most Puerto Ricans are earning less -- far less than the Federal poverty level, they are not going to pay taxes even if the Internal Revenue Act was applicable to the island. The fact that Puerto Rico does not pay income tax should not be a Controlling factor in public welfare and medical assistance policy decisions. It would be a strange system that determined welfare eligibility by the amount of Federal taxes the prospective recipients were fortunate enough -t.o be payin!J. Furthermore, Puerto Rico contributes to the general welfare in many equally important ways. Puerto Ricans have been subject to the draft since 1917 and have served in all wars since World War I. In the current war in Indochina, for exampl2 , some 22,000 island youths have been inducted into the Armed Forces since the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed. This represents a higher proportion per population than in any of the fifty states, and almost 300 island youths have been killed in action. Puerto Rica.ns from Puerto Rico are required to serve in the Armed Forces of the United States to the same extent as other Americans in all fifty states based t:'.pon the fact that Puerto Ricans are American citizens; then the same basis of American citizenship should be used to provide the Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico with the same assistance that other Americans in all fifty states receive. This is not the case at the present time. Lsst year the Family Assistance Bill, pending in Congress and approved by this House, provided welfare assistance to the extent of $1,600 per family of four if they lived in any of the fifty states. The same American family, if they lived in Puerto Rico under this legislation, however, would benefit only to the extent of 55 per cen1s.· This is as absurd as saying that a Puerto Rican should only serv~ in Vietnam to the extent of 55 per cent. If the Puerto Rican who lives in Puerto Rico is entitled to the disabilities of being an American citizen to the extent of 100 per cent, then he should receive the benefits of being an American citizen to the extent of 100 per cent as well. Thus, Hr. Speaker, I call upon my colleagues in the House and the Senate -- particularly those who are committee and subcommittee chairmen -- to see to it that Puerto Rico is included and equitably treated in every piece of legislation coming before the ~ongress. · • · ! . ' · • ~ ·. If, however, I must undertake this task alone, I am fully prepared to offer amendments, where necessary and appropriate, to all pending and future measures to place Puerto Rico on a ~ asis equal with the states. It must be clearly understood that I by no mea.ns intend to ask that American page 3 Herman Badillo - Puerto Rico citizens in Puerto Rico receive anything more but that they simply receive the same as American citizens in the fifty states. 2. Establishment of an economic development plan for Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is standing at a dangerous precipice and its future direction and goals will be decided within the next few years. The current recession in the United States is felt as a depression in Puerto Rico. Hotels are closing , as we all know from the newspapers. nut what is not generally known is that migration to New York City and other parts of the country has increased again. The basic problem is that the number of jobs created each year i n Puerto Rico is far less than the number of people that join the labor force annually. There is no program in effect now or in planning which would reconcile this disparity. Only when this is done can Puerto Ricans be said to have a choice of whether to stay or migrate. At the present they are compelled to migrate by economic reality regardless of policy pronouncements by the Commonwealth government disclaiming the encouragement of migration. I propose and urge that the national and Commonwealth administra­ tions immediately undertake a thoro"'..lgh study of the island's current and future economic status with a view toward developing and pres­ enting to the Congress a comprehensive economic development program which will close the current gap between the labor force and the labor market. I envision such ~ program to be developed along the lines of the Appalachian Regional Development Act, designed to assist in resolving the severe e conomic problems of the island; to assist the Commonwealth in meeting its special problems, particularly in preventing another mass exodus to the mainland ; in promoting and encouraging the island's economic development; and in establishing a framework for joint F0dc ral a nd Commonwealth efforts in the area. The Congress should not be responsi ble f or developing such an econ­ omic redevelopment program but the initiatives must be taken, and taken immediately, by the Nixon and [Governor Luis A.] Ferre ad.min­ istrations. It should be made clear that I do not intend that the Congress would impose ~ program f or economic development upon the people of Puerto Rico but merely that it would provide such assist­ ance, as might be needed and requested to achieve a higher level of development.
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