End 128 Years of Unequal Territorial Status for Puerto Rico
The Issue
A Petition to Congress for a Final and Binding Resolution of Puerto Rico's Political Status.
Since 1898, Puerto Rico has existed under the authority of the United States without the full political representation enjoyed by Americans residing in the states.
Puerto Ricans have been United States citizens since 1917. They have served and sacrificed in the United States Armed Forces. They participate in the American economy, live under federal law, and have contributed to this nation for generations.
Yet a U.S. citizen residing in Puerto Rico cannot vote for President in the general election and has no voting representation in Congress.
Move that same American citizen from Puerto Rico to Florida, New York or another state, and that citizen can participate fully in federal elections.
The result is unequal federal political representation based on territorial residence.
After 128 years, Americans should be willing to ask a simple question:
How long can a territorial status reasonably remain temporary?
Puerto Rico Has Already Voted.
Puerto Ricans have not remained silent about their political future.
Puerto Rico has held multiple status plebiscites over several decades. Those elections have used different questions and formats, and their results and legitimacy have sometimes been politically disputed.
But more recent votes have demonstrated substantial support for statehood.
In 2020, Puerto Ricans were presented with perhaps the clearest question yet:
"Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?"
A majority—52.5 percent—voted Yes.
That vote did not itself make Puerto Rico a state. Under the United States Constitution, admission ultimately requires congressional action.
But that distinction raises another question:
How many times should American citizens be expected to vote on their political future if Congress is never required to act upon the result?
Puerto Rico should not be trapped in an endless cycle of nonbinding votes followed by congressional inaction.
Apply a Fair Historical Standard.
There has never been one single procedure that every American territory was required to follow before becoming a state.
Throughout American history, territories followed different paths. Congress authorized some processes in advance. Other territories petitioned Congress, established governments, drafted constitutions, held elections or otherwise demonstrated their desire and readiness for admission.
Puerto Rico should be judged by a fair and reasonable standard as well.
It has an established constitutional government.
Its people are American citizens.
Generations of Puerto Ricans have served in the United States military.
Puerto Rico has repeatedly conducted democratic votes concerning its political status.
And statehood has repeatedly demonstrated substantial popular support.
Therefore, Congress should answer a reasonable question:
What reasonable democratic standard remains for Puerto Rico to meet that previous territories were not required to satisfy indefinitely before Congress gave them a definitive answer?
Puerto Rico's Financial Crisis Cannot Be Separated From Its Territorial History.
One of the arguments frequently raised against Puerto Rican statehood concerns the island's financial condition and history of public debt.
Puerto Rico's elected governments deserve their share of responsibility.
Decades of excessive borrowing, recurring deficits, inadequate financial management and political decisions contributed substantially to the fiscal crisis.
Accountability requires acknowledging that.
But accountability also requires acknowledging the role of federal policy.
Congress created unusually favorable tax treatment for Puerto Rican government bonds. Puerto Rican debt became attractive to American investors, and the island developed extraordinary access to credit.
Federal economic and tax policies affecting Puerto Rico also changed repeatedly over the decades.
Puerto Rico therefore did not develop its financial system independently of the United States. It developed within a territorial system ultimately controlled by Congress.
That does not excuse irresponsible decisions by Puerto Rican politicians.
But neither should those decisions erase Washington's role in constructing and changing the financial environment in which they occurred.
Puerto Rico Was Also Denied a Financial Tool Available to States.
The disparity became particularly striking during Puerto Rico's debt crisis.
In 1984, Congress excluded Puerto Rico from the portion of federal bankruptcy law through which eligible municipalities of states can obtain Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection.
When Puerto Rico later attempted to establish its own restructuring mechanism for financially distressed public corporations, that effort was blocked under federal law.
Puerto Rico consequently confronted an extraordinary situation:
It could not provide its municipalities and public corporations access to Chapter 9 on the same basis as a state, while federal law also prevented Puerto Rico from simply creating its own replacement.
Congress eventually responded in 2016 by passing PROMESA.
PROMESA established a special restructuring framework for Puerto Rico and created a federally established Financial Oversight and Management Board with extraordinary authority over the territory's finances.
Whatever one's opinion of PROMESA, the episode demonstrates something fundamental about Puerto Rico's political status:
Congress possessed powers over Puerto Rico's financial affairs precisely because Puerto Rico remained a territory.
That makes it deeply problematic to point to the consequences of Puerto Rico's financial history while ignoring the territorial relationship within which that history developed.
What About Questionable or Unlawfully Issued Debt?
Puerto Rico's own Constitution imposes limitations and requirements upon government borrowing.
During the financial crisis, serious legal challenges were raised concerning whether particular bond issuances complied with applicable constitutional debt restrictions.
We should be precise about what that means.
It does not establish that all—or even most—of Puerto Rico's debt was illegal.
Nor does becoming a state automatically erase legitimate debts.
But Puerto Ricans should not be forced to carry into a permanent political status obligations that are ultimately determined to have been issued without lawful authority.
Before any final transition to statehood, Congress should provide for a transparent and independent accounting of Puerto Rico's remaining public obligations.
Legitimate debt should remain legitimate debt.
Debt that has already been lawfully restructured should be treated according to those restructuring agreements.
But any remaining obligation conclusively determined through proper legal proceedings to have been issued unlawfully should not simply be imposed upon future generations of Puerto Ricans.
A demand for accountability must apply to creditors, Puerto Rican officials and the federal government alike.
The Insular Cases Cannot Be Ignored.
There is another uncomfortable chapter of this history.
Much of America's territorial legal framework developed through the early twentieth-century Insular Cases.
Those decisions created the distinction between "incorporated" and "unincorporated" territories and permitted portions of the Constitution to operate differently in territories such as Puerto Rico.
The historical reasoning behind that doctrine has been subjected to extraordinary criticism.
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has called the foundations of the Insular Cases "shameful" and argued that they should be overruled.
The question facing America therefore extends beyond economics or partisan politics.
It concerns what American citizenship should mean.
This Is About Equality and Self-Determination.
Puerto Rico should not become a state simply because Washington decides that statehood is best for Puerto Ricans.
Puerto Ricans must determine Puerto Rico's future.
Statehood, independence and sovereign free association carry profoundly different consequences, and the decision belongs ultimately to the people who will live with those consequences.
But permanent territorial limbo should not be the consequence of congressional inaction.
Congress should establish a final, federally binding and constitutionally valid process through which Puerto Ricans choose among the viable non-territorial alternatives, with Congress committed beforehand to implementing the result within a defined period.
And previous votes should matter.
If Puerto Ricans reaffirm statehood through that binding process, Congress should honor that decision by admitting Puerto Rico into the Union with the same political rights, responsibilities, representation and constitutional standing as every other state.
If Puerto Ricans instead choose independence or sovereign free association, the United States should honor that democratic decision and provide for an orderly transition.
But Congress should no longer be permitted to ask Puerto Ricans what they want while reserving the right to do nothing indefinitely.
Our Petition to the United States Congress
We, the undersigned, call upon Congress to:
- Recognize that 128 years of unresolved territorial status is unacceptable for millions of American citizens.
- Establish a final, federally binding process for Puerto Rico's self-determination among constitutionally viable non-territorial alternatives.
- Commit Congress in advance to implementing the result within a defined and reasonable period.
- Recognize Puerto Rico's previous democratic status votes as part of determining—not erasing—the expressed will of its people.
- If statehood is reaffirmed, provide for Puerto Rico's admission on equal footing with the existing states.
- Conduct or require a transparent accounting of Puerto Rico's remaining public debt so that lawful obligations are honored while any obligations conclusively determined to have been unlawfully issued are treated according to law rather than automatically imposed upon future generations.
- Ensure that any transition addresses Puerto Rico's fiscal obligations fairly without using the consequences of more than a century of territorial policy as justification for perpetuating territorial status.
- End the indefinite political inequality under which American citizens have different federal political representation solely because they reside in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rican officials should be accountable for their decisions.
Congress should be accountable for its decisions.
Creditors should be accountable to the law.
And the American citizens of Puerto Rico should finally receive something they have been denied for generations:
A decision that counts.
American citizenship should not mean one level of federal political representation in Florida, Texas or New York and another simply because that American citizen lives in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico's territorial status helped shape its political and financial history.
That history should not now be used to justify permanent territorial status.
After 128 years, the question should no longer be:
How many more times must Puerto Rico vote?
It should be:
When will the United States finally commit to honoring the democratic decision of the people of Puerto Rico?
128 YEARS IS LONG ENOUGH.
GIVE PUERTO RICO A BINDING CHOICE.
HONOR THE DECISION OF ITS PEOPLE.
14
The Issue
A Petition to Congress for a Final and Binding Resolution of Puerto Rico's Political Status.
Since 1898, Puerto Rico has existed under the authority of the United States without the full political representation enjoyed by Americans residing in the states.
Puerto Ricans have been United States citizens since 1917. They have served and sacrificed in the United States Armed Forces. They participate in the American economy, live under federal law, and have contributed to this nation for generations.
Yet a U.S. citizen residing in Puerto Rico cannot vote for President in the general election and has no voting representation in Congress.
Move that same American citizen from Puerto Rico to Florida, New York or another state, and that citizen can participate fully in federal elections.
The result is unequal federal political representation based on territorial residence.
After 128 years, Americans should be willing to ask a simple question:
How long can a territorial status reasonably remain temporary?
Puerto Rico Has Already Voted.
Puerto Ricans have not remained silent about their political future.
Puerto Rico has held multiple status plebiscites over several decades. Those elections have used different questions and formats, and their results and legitimacy have sometimes been politically disputed.
But more recent votes have demonstrated substantial support for statehood.
In 2020, Puerto Ricans were presented with perhaps the clearest question yet:
"Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?"
A majority—52.5 percent—voted Yes.
That vote did not itself make Puerto Rico a state. Under the United States Constitution, admission ultimately requires congressional action.
But that distinction raises another question:
How many times should American citizens be expected to vote on their political future if Congress is never required to act upon the result?
Puerto Rico should not be trapped in an endless cycle of nonbinding votes followed by congressional inaction.
Apply a Fair Historical Standard.
There has never been one single procedure that every American territory was required to follow before becoming a state.
Throughout American history, territories followed different paths. Congress authorized some processes in advance. Other territories petitioned Congress, established governments, drafted constitutions, held elections or otherwise demonstrated their desire and readiness for admission.
Puerto Rico should be judged by a fair and reasonable standard as well.
It has an established constitutional government.
Its people are American citizens.
Generations of Puerto Ricans have served in the United States military.
Puerto Rico has repeatedly conducted democratic votes concerning its political status.
And statehood has repeatedly demonstrated substantial popular support.
Therefore, Congress should answer a reasonable question:
What reasonable democratic standard remains for Puerto Rico to meet that previous territories were not required to satisfy indefinitely before Congress gave them a definitive answer?
Puerto Rico's Financial Crisis Cannot Be Separated From Its Territorial History.
One of the arguments frequently raised against Puerto Rican statehood concerns the island's financial condition and history of public debt.
Puerto Rico's elected governments deserve their share of responsibility.
Decades of excessive borrowing, recurring deficits, inadequate financial management and political decisions contributed substantially to the fiscal crisis.
Accountability requires acknowledging that.
But accountability also requires acknowledging the role of federal policy.
Congress created unusually favorable tax treatment for Puerto Rican government bonds. Puerto Rican debt became attractive to American investors, and the island developed extraordinary access to credit.
Federal economic and tax policies affecting Puerto Rico also changed repeatedly over the decades.
Puerto Rico therefore did not develop its financial system independently of the United States. It developed within a territorial system ultimately controlled by Congress.
That does not excuse irresponsible decisions by Puerto Rican politicians.
But neither should those decisions erase Washington's role in constructing and changing the financial environment in which they occurred.
Puerto Rico Was Also Denied a Financial Tool Available to States.
The disparity became particularly striking during Puerto Rico's debt crisis.
In 1984, Congress excluded Puerto Rico from the portion of federal bankruptcy law through which eligible municipalities of states can obtain Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection.
When Puerto Rico later attempted to establish its own restructuring mechanism for financially distressed public corporations, that effort was blocked under federal law.
Puerto Rico consequently confronted an extraordinary situation:
It could not provide its municipalities and public corporations access to Chapter 9 on the same basis as a state, while federal law also prevented Puerto Rico from simply creating its own replacement.
Congress eventually responded in 2016 by passing PROMESA.
PROMESA established a special restructuring framework for Puerto Rico and created a federally established Financial Oversight and Management Board with extraordinary authority over the territory's finances.
Whatever one's opinion of PROMESA, the episode demonstrates something fundamental about Puerto Rico's political status:
Congress possessed powers over Puerto Rico's financial affairs precisely because Puerto Rico remained a territory.
That makes it deeply problematic to point to the consequences of Puerto Rico's financial history while ignoring the territorial relationship within which that history developed.
What About Questionable or Unlawfully Issued Debt?
Puerto Rico's own Constitution imposes limitations and requirements upon government borrowing.
During the financial crisis, serious legal challenges were raised concerning whether particular bond issuances complied with applicable constitutional debt restrictions.
We should be precise about what that means.
It does not establish that all—or even most—of Puerto Rico's debt was illegal.
Nor does becoming a state automatically erase legitimate debts.
But Puerto Ricans should not be forced to carry into a permanent political status obligations that are ultimately determined to have been issued without lawful authority.
Before any final transition to statehood, Congress should provide for a transparent and independent accounting of Puerto Rico's remaining public obligations.
Legitimate debt should remain legitimate debt.
Debt that has already been lawfully restructured should be treated according to those restructuring agreements.
But any remaining obligation conclusively determined through proper legal proceedings to have been issued unlawfully should not simply be imposed upon future generations of Puerto Ricans.
A demand for accountability must apply to creditors, Puerto Rican officials and the federal government alike.
The Insular Cases Cannot Be Ignored.
There is another uncomfortable chapter of this history.
Much of America's territorial legal framework developed through the early twentieth-century Insular Cases.
Those decisions created the distinction between "incorporated" and "unincorporated" territories and permitted portions of the Constitution to operate differently in territories such as Puerto Rico.
The historical reasoning behind that doctrine has been subjected to extraordinary criticism.
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has called the foundations of the Insular Cases "shameful" and argued that they should be overruled.
The question facing America therefore extends beyond economics or partisan politics.
It concerns what American citizenship should mean.
This Is About Equality and Self-Determination.
Puerto Rico should not become a state simply because Washington decides that statehood is best for Puerto Ricans.
Puerto Ricans must determine Puerto Rico's future.
Statehood, independence and sovereign free association carry profoundly different consequences, and the decision belongs ultimately to the people who will live with those consequences.
But permanent territorial limbo should not be the consequence of congressional inaction.
Congress should establish a final, federally binding and constitutionally valid process through which Puerto Ricans choose among the viable non-territorial alternatives, with Congress committed beforehand to implementing the result within a defined period.
And previous votes should matter.
If Puerto Ricans reaffirm statehood through that binding process, Congress should honor that decision by admitting Puerto Rico into the Union with the same political rights, responsibilities, representation and constitutional standing as every other state.
If Puerto Ricans instead choose independence or sovereign free association, the United States should honor that democratic decision and provide for an orderly transition.
But Congress should no longer be permitted to ask Puerto Ricans what they want while reserving the right to do nothing indefinitely.
Our Petition to the United States Congress
We, the undersigned, call upon Congress to:
- Recognize that 128 years of unresolved territorial status is unacceptable for millions of American citizens.
- Establish a final, federally binding process for Puerto Rico's self-determination among constitutionally viable non-territorial alternatives.
- Commit Congress in advance to implementing the result within a defined and reasonable period.
- Recognize Puerto Rico's previous democratic status votes as part of determining—not erasing—the expressed will of its people.
- If statehood is reaffirmed, provide for Puerto Rico's admission on equal footing with the existing states.
- Conduct or require a transparent accounting of Puerto Rico's remaining public debt so that lawful obligations are honored while any obligations conclusively determined to have been unlawfully issued are treated according to law rather than automatically imposed upon future generations.
- Ensure that any transition addresses Puerto Rico's fiscal obligations fairly without using the consequences of more than a century of territorial policy as justification for perpetuating territorial status.
- End the indefinite political inequality under which American citizens have different federal political representation solely because they reside in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rican officials should be accountable for their decisions.
Congress should be accountable for its decisions.
Creditors should be accountable to the law.
And the American citizens of Puerto Rico should finally receive something they have been denied for generations:
A decision that counts.
American citizenship should not mean one level of federal political representation in Florida, Texas or New York and another simply because that American citizen lives in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico's territorial status helped shape its political and financial history.
That history should not now be used to justify permanent territorial status.
After 128 years, the question should no longer be:
How many more times must Puerto Rico vote?
It should be:
When will the United States finally commit to honoring the democratic decision of the people of Puerto Rico?
128 YEARS IS LONG ENOUGH.
GIVE PUERTO RICO A BINDING CHOICE.
HONOR THE DECISION OF ITS PEOPLE.
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on September 3, 2026