Talk:Political status of Puerto Rico/Archives/2009/October

HR 856

This edit, among other things, added the following to the lead section:

Also, as recent as 1997, the US Congress stated, via Act of Congress, under the HR 856, also known as "The United States-Puerto Rico Political Status Act" that Puerto Rico “does not have the status of 'free association' with the United States as that status is defined under United States law or international practice.”

Citing

I checked here and here.

• The Findings section of House Report 105-131 - Part 1 - UNITED STATES-PUERTO RICO POLITICAL STATUS ACT does say, in part, "The Commonwealth remains an unincorporated territory and does not have the status of `free association' with the United States as that status is defined under United States law or international practice."
• However, here, the Latest Major Action is shown as "7/15/1998 Senate committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held." As I read this, the resolution was not adopted. Wtmitchell (talk) (earlier Boracay Bill) 01:28, 3 October 2009 (UTC)

The statement as it was is correct, except it should say "US House of Representatives via H.R. 856", and not "US Congress...856". Plain87dice (talk) 04:44, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

You are right, the bill never became law - it died in the Senate. However, it should probably stay in the article if only because it helps present the sentiment in Congress towards a change in the political status of the Island. HR856 is also the most relevant bill related to the PR political status issue, given that it's also the only one to have fully cleared the House, and the first one of a series of other related bills that continue to initiate in Congress.

I have added a section called Bills before Congress. I also made a heading for content that talked about President's Task Force, really, Executive Orders (no content added there.) I know the section Bills before Congress is rather lenghty so anyone should feel free to summarize to condense it a bit; maybe some subheading will do the trick or moving some of it (2009 stuff?) to recent developments. The article needs some additional work (reorganizing, summarizing, etc) before it can be more easily read.I'll try to help as my time permits. Regards, Mummy34 (talk) 18:50, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

Comments from US Congress House of Representatives Report

I added a few paragrapghs from report from Congress. Tried to keep it short, but if someone can summarize it better, great. Otherwise, I'll try to get to it as my time permits. Plain87dice (talk) 02:43, 16 October 2009 (UTC)