Deseo felicitar al jóven Velázquez

Por Valentin R. Fernandez,Philadelphia, USA

Deseo felicitar al jóven Velázquez por presentar ese artículo en recuerdo de mi amigo y compañero Jacinto Gutiérrez.Jacinto y yo pertenecimos a la misma clase del ROTC, grupo que empezó en 1969 siendo de mas de 100 cadetes y del cual nos comisionamos 18. En los cuatro años transcurridos, además de la trágica muerte de Jacinto, perdimos un gran número de cadetes debido a la presión indebida e injusta de miembros de la facultad y administración de la Universidad, quienes se dieron a la tarea de perseguir y hostigar a los miembros del ROTC. Prueba de esto son los números que presento.

Fuí testigo de la balacera que resultó en la muerte de Jacinto y la herida de bala de varios otros cadetes. El día trágico había comenzado como de rutina, con un exámen de historia militar a las 10 de la mañana. Cuando salimos del exámen, nos encontramos un motín en el Centro de Estudiantes. Varios cadetes fuimos en ayuda de un grupo de estudiantes que estaban siendo agredidos por miembros y simpatizantes de la FUPI. Para mediodía, se sentía un aire tenso, al cual estabamos acostumbrados los que habíamos sufrido la persecución de los ggrupos violentos en la UPR por mas de un año. Corría la voz de que se estaba formando un grupo para atacar el ROTC. Yo había ído a tomar otra clase en Estudios Generales, pero cuando salí, ví el movimiento de gente hacia el edificio del ROTC, así que corrí allá. Cuando llegué, habían como treinta cadetes en el edificio, y pronto llegaron más. Al poco rato, cerramos las puertas del edificio al ver el grupo desordenado que venía, desobedeciendo ordenes del comandante del ROTC y de los oficiales a cargo. Pronto empezaron las pedradas y las molotov. Una le quemó un brazo a uno de los cadetes y otros tres o cuatro sufrieron pedradas. Unas jóvenes simpatizadoras del ROTC, junto con un par de cadetes, se organizaron para dar primeras ayudas en uno de los salones de clases en el primer piso. Para cuando el motín llevaba una hora, había media dozena de cadetes allí. Otros dos y yo estábamos protegiendo una de las ventanas del primer piso, de las que daban en dirección al Centro de Estudiantes que desde afuera estaban tratando de romper. Al rato empezaron los disparos. Aparentemente venían de dirección del edificio de Arquitectura, aúnque no podíamos ver exactamente de donde porque el edificio estaba rodeado de arboles y arbustos. Un cadete de primer año llamado Hernández recibió un disparo en el pecho y sangraba profusamente.

Gutiérrez fué uno de los que se encontraron en el techo del edificio expuestos a la balacera tratando de ayudar a los otros cadetes a salir del peligro. Recibió un disparo en el cuello. Lo llevaron al primer piso, donde su hermano estaba dando primeras ayudas. Trataron como pudieron de detener la sangre, pero no se pudo. Para entonces estábamos casi todos en el primer piso esperando a que viniera una ambulancia. La ambulancia vino cuando entró la fuerza de choque, pero eso fue casi una hora después. Para entonces, Hernández estaba escupiendo sangre y Gutiérrez estaba inmóvil, con su hermano todavía tratando desesperadamente de detener la sangre. Habían otros doce cadetes recibiendo primeros auxilios. Sacámos a los dos con heridas graves en camillas a la entrada del edificio para cuando llegara la ambulancia.Cuando vimos la fuerza de choque a la distancia, decidimos salir y formamos una línea de unos 20 cadetes en el lado del edificio contrario al Centro de Estudiantes, de donde habían venido los últimos disparos. Le hicimos frente a los amotinados, pero tuvimos que entrar corriendo al edificio porque la lluvia de pedradas fué demasiado. Ahí fué que una bala me dió en una correa gruesa de cuero que tenía puesta, rompiéndola y dejándome una laceración que me sangró bastante.Entónces entró la fuerza de choque, los que equivocadamente empezaron con macanear a algunos cadetes que se había quedado fuera del edificio. Nos sacaron a todos de alli y nos fuímos a la Barbosa, donde estuvimos hasta bastante tarde. Llegué a casa esa tarde como a las 6:30. No dije nada del vendaje que tenía puesto, pero mi madre se horrorizó de la sangre que tenía en la ropa. Entonces me dí cuenta que estaba todo manchado con la sangre de mis compañeros heridos. No pude ir al entierro de Gutierrez, que su familia hizo en privado. Hernández tardó mucho tiempo en recobrarse de su herida, que le había colapsado un pulmón. Todavía no me explico como pudo caminar hasta la ambulancia con una herida tan grave. Tuvo que darse de baja del ROTC por razones médicas. Los demás nos recobramos de las heridas, laceraciones y quemaduras. La matrícula del ROTC se redujo a menos de la mitad. Irónicamente,la fotografía que salió en el Vocero esa semana de la fuerza de choque macaneándo estudiantes identificaba incorrectamente a uno de mis amigos como fupista. La realidad es que los amotinados corrieron como cucarachas cuando vieron venir la línea de la fuerza de choque. Casi todos los que recibieron macanazos de la policía fueron o cadetes o simpatizantes del ROTC que salieron a encontrarlos.Tras de varias semanas, reabrió la Universidad. Al que crea que se hizo pacíficamente le puedo enseñar la cicatriz que tengo en la cabeza. Me emboscaron unos maleantes frente a Generales y me dieron un golpe en la cabeza que me dejó inconsciente por un rato. Esos incidentes se repirieron hasta que nos permitió a los cadetes dejar de recortarnos el pelo corto, porque el recorte nos delataba. Hasta el día de hoy nunca he vuelto a poner pie en el Centro de Estudiantes. Ya va un tercio de siglo.Resiento eternamente que se deshumanizara a los que participamos en el programa del ROTC. Nadie parece pensar que éramos jóvenes de carne y hueso, impresionables e idealistas. Me comisioné en enero del 1974 (había perdido un semestre a causa de los motines), y serví como oficial en la Reserva y la Guardia Nacional hasta completar mi servicio militar en 1982. A los que se precian de servir a su patria levantando puños y gritando tonterías les puedo decir que cosecharán tanto como sembraron. Mi fenecido amigo Gutiérrez entregó lo que ninguno de esos cobardes hará - su jóven vida en prueba de dedicación. Envidio a Jacinto Gutiérrez. Si bien es cierto que nunca llegará cumplir los 21 años, también es cierto que mientras quede un puertorriqueño dispuesto a luchar por lograr la estadidad, su espírito jovial, amistoso y lleno de fuerza espiritual permanecerá vivo en nuestra compañía... etérnamente jóven.

Saludos,

Vaterio (Valentin R. Fernandez,Philadelphia,USA)

Jacinto Gutierrez Memorial Activity

Saludos a Todos: I N V I T A C I O N

Asunto: Aniversario del motin de la UPR de Marzo de 1971

Fecha: Viernes 10 de Marzo 2006Hora: 11:00 AM

Lugar: Porton de la Avenida Barbosa (detras de la UPR)

El articulo que hace referencia el Señor Valentin fue escrito por Jose Julio Diaz Presidente del Nuevo Movimiento Estadista.

Jacinto Gutierrez Memorial Activity

Jacinto Gutierrez Memorial Activity

Saludos a Todos:

I N V I T A C I O N

Asunto: Aniversario del motin de la UPR de Marzo de 1971

Fecha: Viernes 10 de Marzo 2006


Hora: 11:00 AM

Lugar: Porton de la Avenida Barbosa (detras de la UPR)

Por cuarto año consecutivo estamos recordando estos asesinatos que por diferentes razones y motivaciones la comunidad de Puerto Rico a olvidado por decadas.Queremos recordar, describir, evaluar y analizar los eventos de ese dia con el proposito principal de que no vuelva a suceder.El que crea que estas cosas no van a volver a suceder deben estar consientes de que todavia, al dia de hoy, los Izquierdistas continua teniendo tanto control de la UPR como lo tenian hace 36 años. El 20 de Mayo pasado acuchillaron a dos estudiantes en el salon de clases y nadie fue acusado y en Septiembre pasado destruyeron la cafeteria del centro de Estudiantes y nadie fue suspendido o acusado. Hace 18 meses detuvieron la construccion de un nuevo edificio del ROTC en Mayagues por siete meses hasta que la UPR decidio que no se debia construir ese edificio. Rodearon el automovil del propio Presidente del la UPR golpeando su automovil y no paso nada.

La actual rectora Gladys Escalona fue miembro de la FUPI para la epoca de Jacinto a; igual que lo fue Muriente, Bernabe y otros y fue la FUPI la que coloco a Escalona en la posicion de Rectora en la UPR mediante un proceso de supuestamente "ordenado" "Justo" y "democratico".Al igual que lo expresado anteriormente, Los responsables de estos sucesos tampoco fueron encausados ni procesados. Estos asesinatos, al igual que de los Marinos de Sabana Seca (1979), Los Marinos en el Puente Dos Hermanos (1976), El Abogado Alan Randal y su esposa (1970), El ataque a pedradas a los manifestantes en la lomita de los vientos frente a la fuerza de choque (2001) y la emboscada a los Marinos en la calle San Agustin (2002) han quedado impunes y lo unico que podemos hacer es lo que estamos haciendo.Recordando estos asesinatos.El joven Jacinto fue enterrado en Ponce. Tadavia no hemos tenido la presencia de ninguno de sus familiares o amigos pero si, de algunas personas que estuvieron presentes en esa ocasion. Todos los que tengan algo que aportar relacionado con estos sucesos seran invitados a dar sus testimonios.Por lo tantoPor este medio deseamos extenderles una invitacion a todos ustedes para participar en la ceremonia de recordacion del cadete del ROTC Jacinto Gutierrez, del Teniente Coronel Juan Birino Mercado y del policia Miguel Rosario que fueron emboscados y ejecutados en un motin planificado por profesores de la UPR y ejecutado por miembros de la FUPI en Marzo de 1971.

Estan todos cordialmente invitados.

Jose Julio Diaz Nuevo Movimiento Estadista, Inc.

www.N-M-Estadista.Blogspot.com

Pedro Albizu Campos, Primer NAZI Puertorriqueño

Pedro Albizu Campos, Primer NAZI Puertorriqueño

Uno de los cuentos que mas se repite entre los que dicen llamarse independentistas es que Pedro Albizu Campos fue una figura heroica en la lucha por la independencia de Puerto Rico. Como el independentismo puertorriqueño vive envuelto en una nube de fantasía alimentada por odio, rencor y amargura, vamos a examinar los hechos para conocer la VERDAD sobre Pedro Albizu Campos, el fascista.

Para empezar bien, tenemos que definir lo que es un fascista dentro del contexto historico. Los Fascistas, como Benito Mussolini y Adolfo Hitler, son básicamente personas que quieren imponer su manera de pensar sobre los démas a la fuerza. Para lograr esto, utilizan el ultra-nacionalismo para conseguir simpatizantes. Además glorifican la violencia y la violación de los derechos de los demás como la manera de conseguir lo que quieren.

Ahora bien. Si eso es un Fascista, tenemos que preguntarnos si Albizu tenia esas caracteristicas. La historia nos dice que si. Y como dicen que para muestra con un botón basta, vamos a presentar varios botones.

Botón # 1: El segundo vicepresidente del Partido Nacionalista, Luis Vergne Ortiz, se dio cuenta, para el 1932, que Albizu estaba violando el reglamento del partido. Albizu estaba imponiendo su voluntad por encima de la junta directiva del partido. Como Vergne Ortiz lo criticó, Albizu lo botó del partido. El 26 de febrero de 1932, el periodico El Mundo publicó una carta de Vergne a sus compañeros del partido donde les dice que él busca la independencia, pero “sin destruir los derechos individuales.... Ansio una democracia donde exista el derecho de censurar públicamente las actuaciones del Presidente de la nación”. Obviamente, en el Partido Nacionalista sólo se podia obedecer, no criticar.

Botón # 2: En el 1933, la Juventud Nacionalista escogió por elección a Domingo Marrero para que este los representara ante el Segundo Congreso Latinoamericano de Estudiantes a celebrarse en Costa Rica. Albizu sencillamente rechazó esa decision de los jovenes y mandó a Francisco Pagán Rodriguez, el candidato que perdió, pero que era el que Albizu quería que fuera.

Boton # 3: Cuando Albizu creó, en el 1932, los cadetes de la Républica, decidió vestirlos con las camisas negras que usaban los fascistas italianos de Benito Mussolini. Para colmo, en el periódico nacionalista La Nación, hizo publicar, el 26 de diciembre de 1931, El Decálogo del Joven Fascista. La idea central del decálogo era que habia que obedecer órdenes. Nadie tenía que pensar. Para eso estaba Albizu.

Boton # 4: Para confirmar su entrega total al Nazismo / fascismo, Albizu y sus nacionalistas, optaron por utilizar el simbolo de la Alemania nazi, la suástica, para adornar los bordes de la primera plana de la edición del 12 de septiembre de 1936 del periodico nacionalista, La Acción. Y así, un boricua, por odio y rencor, abrazó el racismo nazi. Y asi tambien se abrazó la consigna nazi “die Vaterland ist mut und opfert” (“la patria es valor y sacrificio” - ¡ni en esto pudo ser original!).

Hasta Juan Mari Bras, un viejo comunista que ha sido eterno defensor de Albizu, ha admitido que Albizu era un caudillo; un dictador dentro del partido. Por eso era que para Albizu sólo habia dos clases de puertorriqueños: los “verdaderos” (que eran los que él controlaba y estaban dentro del partido nacionalista) y los traidores (el resto de la población de la isla). Para Albizu, como para Mussolini y para Hitler, su partido era la única patria. Los demás puertorriqueños él los llamó “parasitos” y “no valen nada” (esto lo dijo en Utuado, en un discurso el 23 de febrero de l950).

Para Albizu, la gran mayoria del pueblo de Puerto Rico no valía nada.

Por eso le era fácil a Albizu predicar violencia, derramamiento de sangre y muerte dentro de nuestro pueblo. Su odio lo consumía, y su amargura con al vida lo llevaba a extremos cada vez más ridículos. Cuando él planificó el atentado de asesinato contra Santiago Iglesias Pantín, padre del movimiento obrero en Puerto Rico, y cuando intentó matar a Luis Muñoz Marín, el primer gobernador electo, estaba manifestando ese odio y rencor.

Los que hoy tratan de presentar al fascista Albizu como un “heroe” o como un “procer” están tratando de tapar el cielo con la mano. La historia no se puede negar... está ahí. Se puede tratar de esconder... y se puede tratar de amedrentar a los que queremos que se sepa la verdad. Pero la realidad es la realidad.

No importa a cuantas escuelas les pongan el nombre de Albizu Campos, el nazi puertorriqueño, y no importa cuantos desfiles se dediquen a Albizu Campos, el nazi puertorriqueño, y no importa a cuantas calles le pongan el nombre de Albizu Campos, el nazi puertorriqueño, la mona, aunque se vista de seda, mona se queda.

Los neo-nazis (nuevos nazis) puertorriqueños de hoy quieren esconder la historia. Ellos niegan la realidad, porque si la admiten, se desenmascaran, y se les ve la verdadera cara: la de neo-nazi.

Siguen empujando la “independencia” cuando lo que quieren es imponer la dictadura. Siguen provocando situaciones que se presten para crear confrontaciones violentas. Siguen tratando de intimidar a los que no piensan como ellos, porque no tienen argumentos con razón para convencer. En fin, siguen practicando las tácticas nazis y fascistas que desarrollaron Hitler y Mussolini.

Los neo-nazis se ponen muchos nombres; FUPI, Macheteros, FEPI, Círculo Hostoniano, etc. Pero si raspas la superficie, vas a encontrar a los fascistas que están viviendo debajo de ese carapacho.

¡DESPIERTA BORICUA! Que los fascistas quieren convertir tu isla en otro infierno dictatorial.

Este articulo fue originalmente realizado por el grupo Accción para la preservación de la Ciudadanía Americana.

Washington's Birthday, February 22, 1732

George Washington

Born: February 22, 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia

Died: December 14, 1799 in Mount Vernon, Virginia

On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. "As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent," he wrote James Madison, "it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles."

Born in 1732 into a Virginia planter family, he learned the morals, manners, and body of knowledge requisite for an 18th century Virginia gentleman.

He pursued two intertwined interests: military arts and western expansion. At 16 he helped survey Shenandoah lands for Thomas, Lord Fairfax. Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War. The next year, as an aide to Gen. Edward Braddock, he escaped injury although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him.

From 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Washington managed his lands around Mount Vernon and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. Married to a widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, he devoted himself to a busy and happy life. But like his fellow planters, Washington felt himself exploited by British merchants and hampered by British regulations. As the quarrel with the mother country grew acute, he moderately but firmly voiced his resistance to the restrictions.

When the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775, Washington, one of the Virginia delegates, was elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. On July 3, 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of his ill-trained troops and embarked upon a war that was to last six grueling years.

He realized early that the best strategy was to harass the British. He reported to Congress, "we should on all Occasions avoid a general Action, or put anything to the Risque, unless compelled by a necessity, into which we ought never to be drawn." Ensuing battles saw him fall back slowly, then strike unexpectedly. Finally in 1781 with the aid of French allies--he forced the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.

Washington longed to retire to his fields at Mount Vernon. But he soon realized that the Nation under its Articles of Confederation was not functioning well, so he became a prime mover in the steps leading to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787. When the new Constitution was ratified, the Electoral College unanimously elected Washington President.

He did not infringe upon the policy making powers that he felt the Constitution gave Congress. But the determination of foreign policy became preponderantly a Presidential concern. When the French Revolution led to a major war between France and England, Washington refused to accept entirely the recommendations of either his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who was pro-French, or his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who was pro-British. Rather, he insisted upon a neutral course until the United States could grow stronger.

To his disappointment, two parties were developing by the end of his first term. Wearied of politics, feeling old, he retired at the end of his second. In his Farewell Address, he urged his countrymen to forswear excessive party spirit and geographical distinctions. In foreign affairs, he warned against long-term alliances.

Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement at Mount Vernon, for he died of a throat infection December 14, 1799. For months the Nation mourned him.

Romero Barceló says…

EXCLUSIVE: Romero Barceló says…

By Carlos Romero Barceló

Of Caribbean Business

When the Young Bill, which defined three status options for Puerto Rico, was filed, the leaders of the commonwealth status, the pro-independence leaders, the self-appointed political “gurus” and almost all of the media predicted the bill never would be passed by the House of Representatives. The conventional wisdom in political circles in Puerto Rico and in the media was that the Young Bill was dead at birth.

The lack of knowledge or understanding as to the legal, constitutional, and political relationships of Puerto Rico to the 50 states of the union was overwhelming. The number of representatives and senators, who really understood and were aware of the relationship between us, was less than one in six or seven. There were quite a few members of Congress who didn’t know Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens by birth. Many didn’t know Puerto Ricans were subject to the draft before the Armed Forces became volunteer forces. Most congresspeople and senators were unaware of the fact that residents of Puerto Rico weren’t subject to federal income tax for income earned in Puerto Rico; nor did they know we received many of the benefits of federal programs even through we didn’t pay federal income taxes.

The incredible ignorance about our political, legal, and constitutional relationship was one of the biggest obstacles we faced in our endeavor to pass the Young Bill in the House and to get it passed in the Senate. Even the Hispanic-Americans, or Latinos, in the nation were unaware of the importance that Puerto Rico becoming a state has to the Hispanic-American or Latino power in the nation.

The legislative hearings in the House and the Senate were an educational process for many congress members and senators. It gave me, as resident commissioner, and my staff an opportunity to educate, not only members of Congress, but also their staff members and the committee staff members. It also gave Gov. Rosselló and his staff, including PRFAA, our local legislators and many volunteers, a meaningful opportunity to educate members of Congress and their staffs as well. In the process, we found the presentation of our struggle to achieve full democracy by being granted the right to vote for president and the right to elect our proportionate number of representatives and senators to Congress, was readily understood. We wanted to participate in the democratic process of our nation. As a result, we also would assume our obligations, as full-fledged U.S. citizens, to pay federal income taxes and to serve in our nation’s armed forces.

The “Enhanced Commonwealth” status proposal, which demands a guarantee of permanent U.S. citizenship, rejects the right to vote in our nation’s elections in exchange for not paying federal income taxes while, at the same time, demands participation in the financial and economic benefits of all federal programs paid for by the income taxes of the residents of the 50 states, something looked upon with suspicion and making us appear as parasites. Many members of Congress, their staffs, the committee staffs, and the media began to perceive the “commonwealth” position as opportunistic and hypocritical. Why would a person want to be a citizen of the nation which is the world’s example of democracy, and not want to participate in the nation’s democratic process? How seriously can you take anyone who wants to receive all economic and financial benefits available, but refuses to contribute to the treasure chest that pays for those benefits?

As the legislative hearings on the Young Bill were being held and more and more people in positions of power and influence began to understand our relationship to the 50 states of the union, the more people of influence and power were convinced the status of Puerto Rico is becoming more and more unacceptable to the U.S. and to Puerto Rico. The sooner we all realize this, the better for all involved.

Against all predictions, the Young Bill was passed in the House, albeit by one vote, and everyone was surprised. In the Senate, the bill wasn’t acted upon because the majority leader of the Senate, Trent Lott, refused to allow the bill to be considered in committee. His reason was purely partisan. As he stated in a television interview, if Puerto Rico became a state, he was convinced our two senators and our six representatives would be Democrats. At the time, the resident commissioner was a Democrat (I was the resident commissioner). This time around, our resident commissioner is Republican. The Senate’s majority leader now would have difficulty validating such a partisan argument against a fellow Republican.

Another issue which time has turned into our favor is the disenfranchisement of four million Hispanic-Americans who have been U.S. citizens by birth since 1917. Since the Young Bill was under discussion in the 1990s, the Hispanic-American, or Latino, population in the U.S. has grown tremendously. Since the last decade, Hispanic-Americans in the U.S. have become the largest minority in the nation. It is now predicted that in the next decade, Hispanic-Americans will become the majority of the total population. Obviously, the political importance of Hispanic-Americans is growing by leaps and bounds.

How many congresspeople and senators can afford to deny four million Hispanic-Americans the opportunity to achieve political equality? If Puerto Rico were populated by four million Irish, four million Italians, or four million Jews who were citizens since 1917, would they still be disenfranchised? Why hasn’t the nation done anything to reach a permanent solution to our undemocratic relation with the 50 states of the Union?

It is for these reasons, and others, that the opportunity to get a bill passed by Congress, under the terms set forth by the President’s Task Force recommendations, is much more favorable this time around than when we were discussing the Young Bill in the ’90s.

During my visit to Washington, D.C., in the first week of this month of February, I visited with 13 representatives and four senators, all of whom I had talked with about the status issue at the time of the Young Bill. My experience this time was much more positive than the first time. Not only were they much more receptive to participating and voting in favor, but they felt that the way the voting is being proposed by the White House Task Force is much easier to understand and provides better arguments to convince others to support the bill.

An unexpected reason for a greater urgency to solve Puerto Rico’s status dilemma, once and for all, has been the Vieques issue. The headlines and the media reports in that issue have enormously increased Congress’s awareness that the overwhelming majority of the U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico are dissatisfied with their present status. Therefore, a solution to the dilemma should be found and Congress should do what needs to be done to make it happen. This time around, the timing couldn’t be better.

Carlos Romero Barceló is a two-term former governor of Puerto Rico (1977-84), a two-term former resident commissioner (1993-2000) and a two-term former mayor of San Juan (1969-78). He was president of the New Progressive Party for 11 years. He is now a consultant and involved in real estate, doing business as CRB Realty

2004 Republican Platform

2004 Republican Platform

(Page 78)

Americans In The Territories

We welcome greater participation in all aspects of the political process by Americans residing in Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas, and Puerto Rico. Since no single approach can meet the needs of those diverse communities, we emphasize respect for their wishes regarding their relationship to the rest of the Union. We affirm their right to seek the full extension of the Constitution, with all the rights and responsibilities it entails.

We support the Native American Samoans’ efforts to preserve their culture and land-tenure system, which fosters self-reliance and strong extended-family values. We support increased local self-government for the United States citizens of the Virgin Islands, and closer cooperation between the local and federal governments to promote private sector-led development and self-sufficiency. We recognize that Guam is a strategically vital U.S. territory in the far western Pacific, an American fortress in the Asian region. We affirm our support for the patriotic U.S. citizens of Guam to achieve greater local self-government, an improved federal-territorial relationship, new economic development strategies, and continued self-determination as desired with respect to political status.

We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state after they freely so determine. We recognize that Congress has the final authority to define the Constitutionally valid options for Puerto Rico to achieve a permanent non-territorial status with government by consent and full enfranchisement. As long as Puerto Rico is not a state, however, the will of its people regarding their political status should be ascertained by means of a general right of referendum or specific referenda sponsored by the United States government.

Don Luis A. Ferré (February 17, 1904 - October 21, 2003)

Don Luis Alberto Ferré Aguayo (February 17, 1904 – October 21, 2003) was an engineer, industrialist, politician, philanthropist, and a patron of the arts. He was the third democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico from 1969 to 1973, and the founding father of the New Progressive Party which advocates for Puerto Rico becoming a state of the United States of America.

Early life

Luis Antonio Ferré was born in the southern city of Ponce, Puerto Rico on February 17, 1904. Ferre's father, was a Cuban immigrant who founded the company "Porto Rico Iron Works".

Education

He studied Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, obtaining his bachelor's degree in 1924 and masters degree in 1925, and music at the New England Conservatory of Music. During this time, while living in Boston, Ferré developed an admiration for the "American way of democracy".

Family History

Ferre's father achieved fortune under the help of the Serralles family founders of Don Q, which is considered Puerto Rico's finest rum.

Industrialist

Upon his return to Puerto Rico, Ferré helped transform his father's company into a successful business which earned him a fortune. In 1948, he acquired "El Dia" a fledgling newspaper. "Empresas Ferré" would later acquire in the 1950s, Puerto Rico Cement and Ponce Cement, which capitalized in the economic boom which Puerto Rico experienced at the time as the result of the ambitious industrialization projects which came with Operation Bootstrap.

Political life

Ferré became active in politics in the 1940's. He unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1940 and Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in 1948.

Representative

In 1948, Puerto Ricans where allowed to elect their governor. Luis Muñoz Marín was elected governor of Puerto Rico, and a movement began which aimed to adopt a commonwealth relationship with the United States of America. In 1951, a referendum was held to decided to whether to approve or not the option granted by the United States Congress to draft Puerto Rico's first constitution. Ferré abstained from participating in the process in which the pro-statehood party to which he belonged favored the 1951 referendum. He believed that the process would mean "an acceptance of a colony and condemn the people to a perpetual condition of second class citizenship". Still, Ferré would later participate in the constitutional assembly created by the referendum which would draft the constitution. In 1952 the Constitution of Puerto Rico was adopted, creating the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. That same year Ferré was elected representative in the Puerto Rican House of Representatives. Ferré ran under the Republican Statehood Party ("Partido Estadista Republicano) and officially assumed his duties as representative on January 11, 1953.

In 1967, a plebiscite was held to decide if the people of Puerto Rico desired to become an independent nation, a state of the United States of America or continue the commonwealth relation established in 1952. The majority of Puerto Ricans opted for the Commonwealth option (see Puerto Rico status referenda). Disagreement among the current pro-statehood party led by Miguel García Méndez led Ferré and others to found the New Progressive Party or PNP.
In the following general election in 1968 Ferré ran for Governor and defeated Luis Negrón Lopez, the candidate of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) by a slight margin, ending Luis Muñoz Marín's PPD's hold on the governor's seat which lasted 20 years. His work as governor of Puerto Rico included defending the federal minimum wage and granting workers a Christmas bonus. He visited Puerto Rican troops in Vietnam. In 1970 his first wife, Lorencita, died at La Fortaleza after being bed-ridden for years. During his governorship, he paid special attention to youth affairs and bringing young Puerto Ricans into public service. He successfully had the Puerto Rico Constitution amended to lower the voting age to 18, strongly supported the New Progressive Party Youth organization as party president, appointed then-young statehooders such as Antonio Quiñones Calderon and Francisco "Pompy" Gonzalez to high-level administration jobs, campaigned for a 26-year-old at large House candidate, nominated a future Senate President, teenager Kenneth McClintock as Puerto Rico delegate to the 1971 White House Conference on Youth, and strengthened college scholarship programs.

Before the Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency, Ferré had already created Puerto Rico's Environmental Quality Board, charged with protecting the islands' environment.In the elections of 1972 he sought re-election but lost to Rafael Hernández Colón of the (PPD). However, he remained active in politics and in 1976, he was elected to the Senate of Puerto Rico. Ferré served as eighth president of the Senate from 1976-1980 and continued serving as senator until 1985.

Years after leaving La Fortaleza, he married Tiody De Jesus, a nurse who later became a physician.After serving as senator, Ferré continued to be active in politics, especially representing the United States Republican Party on the island. Between 1989 and 1991, Ferré served with former Governor Carlos Romero Barceló, former representative Benny Frankie Cerezo, PNP leader Kenneth McClintock and former congressional staffer David Gerken as the New Progressive Party's negotiating team while Congress considered Puerto Rico political status legislation introduced by Senator J. Bennett Johnston.

Renaissance man

Ferré was also a talented pianist who recorded several albums of his piano music. On January 3, 1949 he founded the Ponce Museum of Art, in his hometown of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The museum initially displayed 71 paintings from his personal collection and today displays over 500 and hundreds of other works. "El Centro de Bellas Artes", the center for performing arts in San Juan, Puerto Rico also bears his name as well as the freeway connecting San Juan and Ponce, Puerto Rico. He also assisted in the creation of the Casals Festival y Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. He was a member of Phi Sigma Alfa Fraternity. His philanthropic deeds and defence for democracy earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 18, 1991.

Death and Legacy

On September 29, 2003, Ferré was hospitalized with a urinary tract infection and underwent surgery for an intestinal blockage on October 1. While in the hospital he developed pneumonia before finally succumbing to respiratory failure on the morning of October 21, 2003. He was 99 years old, three and a half months shy of his 100th birthday.His body laid in state in Puerto Rico's capitol building in San Juan, then transported to his museum in Ponce, before being taken for a state funeral and burial nearby. His funeral and ceremonies honoring him were attended by numerous politicians, including former U.S. President and friend, George H. W. Bush.

Among the numerous awards that were bestowed on Luis A. Ferré was the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an honor which was also subsequently bestowed on his sister Sor Isolina Ferre. The renowned sculptor Tomás Batista was also commissioned to make a bust of Ferré, which is exhibited in the Ponce Museum of Art.

Lincoln our Sixteenth President

Sixteenth President 1861-1865

Born: February 12, 1809, in Hodgenville, Hardin County, Kentucky

Died: April 15, 1865. Lincoln died the morning after being shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. by John Wilkes Booth, an actor.

Lincoln warned the South in his Inaugural Address: "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you.... You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it."

Lincoln thought secession illegal, and was willing to use force to defend Federal law and the Union. When Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter and forced its surrender, he called on the states for 75,000 volunteers. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy but four remained within the Union. The Civil War had begun.

The son of a Kentucky frontiersman, Lincoln had to struggle for a living and for learning. Five months before receiving his party's nomination for President, he sketched his life:
"I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families--second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks.... My father ... removed from Kentucky to ... Indiana, in my eighth year.... It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up.... Of course when I came of age I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write, and cipher ... but that was all."

Lincoln made extraordinary efforts to attain knowledge while working on a farm, splitting rails for fences, and keeping store at New Salem, Illinois. He was a captain in the Black Hawk War, spent eight years in the Illinois legislature, and rode the circuit of courts for many years. His law partner said of him, "His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest."

He married Mary Todd, and they had four boys, only one of whom lived to maturity. In 1858 Lincoln ran against Stephen A. Douglas for Senator. He lost the election, but in debating with Douglas he gained a national reputation that won him the Republican nomination for President in 1860.

As President, he built the Republican Party into a strong national organization. Further, he rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy.
Lincoln never let the world forget that the Civil War involved an even larger issue. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Lincoln won re-election in 1864, as Union military triumphs heralded an end to the war. In his planning for peace, the President was flexible and generous, encouraging Southerners to lay down their arms and join speedily in reunion.

The spirit that guided him was clearly that of his Second Inaugural Address, now inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C.: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds.... "

On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington by John Wilkes Booth, an actor, who somehow thought he was helping the South. The opposite was the result, for with Lincoln's death, the possibility of peace with magnanimity died.

Newt on the Abramoff Scandal

Newt on the Abramoff Scandal
Handout to the DC Rotary Club

Wednesday, January 4, 2006
by Newt Gingrich

“Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely”

Lord Acton

“It will not be denied, that power is of an encroaching nature, and that it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it.”

Federalist Papers number 48, 1788

Lord Acton understood a principle which lay at the heart of the Founding Fathers development of a Constitution of limited effective government.

The Founding Fathers, having watched the corruption of the British governments of the 18th century, came to believe that power had to be limited, that there was an inherent bias toward corruption among those who had power and that big government was dangerous government.

The Abramoff scandal (and it is a scandal) is only one symptom of the growing profoundly unhealthy nature of power in Washington. Abramoff is the product of the system, not the system is the product of Abramoff. Abramoff did not create the system, but he did use it. It is important to start by stating flatly that this is not a lobbyist scandal. This is a lobbyist-incumbent-staff scandal. Abramoff and every other guilty person should go to jail.

The questions of lobbying should be looked at. But looking only at lobbyists protects the heart of the current system of incumbency protection-big government spending and power-Washington insider domination of the country which as a system is much more dangerous than the Abramoff scandal alone. The Congressional earmarks for pork, the special powers of Senators to blackmail the Executive Branch, the special provisions written into an overly complex tax code late at night in hidden meetings are symptoms of this larger problem of which Abramoff is only the tip of the iceberg. Efforts to focus reforms only on lobbying are efforts that will fail to move beyond the symptoms and look at the entire disease of corrupt power which is slowly engulfing the national government.

Consider these other symptoms:

One person spends $100 million personally to first buy a senate seat and then buy a governorship, and while spending that $100 million, votes for the McCain-Feingold bill to limit every middle class citizen to $2,500 an election per campaign.

Foreign governments and entities increasingly understand they can buy influence in Washington, and from the campaign scandals of 1996 to the recent donation of $20 million by a Saudi Prince to a major University, there has been a flood of foreign money designed to influence the most powerful government in the world.

The election process has turned into an incumbency protection process in which lobbyists attend PAC fundraisers to raise money for incumbents so they can drown potential opponents, thus creating war chests which convince potential candidates not to run and freeing up the incumbents to spend more time at Washington PAC fundraisers. The McCain-Feingold limits create ridiculously low contribution limits which requires more and more time be spent raising money in small amounts to maintain the war chests.

The very wealthy simply go through a loophole in the new campaign law and create irresponsible 527 organizations turning the 2004 Presidential campaign into the most relentlessly negative and harsh in modern times.

Senators abuse their power to blackmail the Executive Branch by allowing individual Senators to hold up Presidential appointments in order to extort things from the Executive Branch in a bazaar of negotiation.

Faced with incumbency protection, lobbyist friends, and huge war chests, House and Senate Members find it impossible to say no and simply keep bloating the federal government into a bigger and bigger engine of spending which attracts even more money into lobbying and interest group activities and makes the system even more vulnerable to corruption.

PRINCIPLES

The American people should be able to hold those to whom they loan power (incumbents) accountable and the bias of the system should be toward power back home rather than power in Washington.

Lobbying is an honorable and legitimate function but it should be transparent and accountable.

Middle class candidates should be able to challenge incumbents and millionaires with adequate resources raised from their own constituency.

Foreign influence buying is potentially fatal to our system of government and has to be tightly scrutinized and monitored.

Americans should expect the majority of the House and Senate to put the country first and to restrain or defeat those efforts at personal aggrandizement and personal power which undermine the effectiveness and the legitimacy of the government.

Members of Congress should apply at least as strong a set of rules to themselves as they have applied to business chief executive officers through the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation




FIRST STEPS TO REFORM

The Congress and the President should take these symptoms of dysfunction and corruption seriously and should look at the entire range of problems in a series of hearings and commissions which go to the very fundamentals of what the American people should expect and how the laws and regulations could be changed to strengthen the American people and weaken both the lobbyists and the incumbent politicians.

There are some practical reforms but they will go against the grain of the Washington elite and the establishment desire for bigger government with more rules and more regulations. Here are some key steps:

1. Abolish fundraising in Washington. There is no reason for incumbents to raise money in the capitol. Washington should be defined broadly so there are no loopholes for suburban fundraisers. The intent should be clear and decisive. Cut the connection between lobbying and campaign money;

2. Allow unlimited contributions by citizens in the Congressional District of a House race or in the state of a Senate race. There is no reason the honest working citizens back home should have a restriction on their donation while millionaires buy seats and lobbyists host special interest fundraisers. No single step would shift power toward home and away from Washington faster than allowing citizens unlimited funds to donate to elect their own candidates in their own district. One millionaires’ $100 million purchase of a Senate seat and a Governorship in New Jersey should stand as convincing proof that the average citizen should be allowed to donate to the poorer candidate to offset the big rich ability to buy power;

3. Require that all lobbying contacts between government officials (elected and unelected) and lobbyists be posted on the internet weekly so people can understand who is doing what. Require that the lobbyist file one report and the member or staff file a parallel report so there is a continuous process of confirming accuracy and honesty in reporting. Make it a felony to deliberately misreport;

4. Create a foreign travel approval board to certify that any non-government travel is a legitimate educational trip and not a sham event;
5. All special provisions (earmarks) should be required to have the members name and an explanation attached so people can identify who is putting in special provisions;
6. All spending bills (including conference reports and continuing resolutions) should be filed and have a mandatory 72 hour posting on Thomas before being voted on. This would allow the bloggers, the media, and citizen activists to identify any outrages before the vote rather than after;
7. All government grants and contracts should be posted on line so they can be scrutinized immediately. Transparency is the key first step toward accountability;
8. Any systematic or significant violation of the gift band by staff which shows up in the dual reporting system established in reform 3 should lead to immediate review and dismissal if guilty. There should be a staff violation review board and anyone who encounters violations should be encouraged them to report to the board. Staff arrogance and violation of the rules has become a larger problem than member violations and staffs have so much power in the modern gigantic Washington government that they have to be held to the standards of honesty and public service.
9. The Senate should review its rules and restrictions and bring them up to the House standard. In many ways the Senate rules are two decades behind the House in transparency, accountability and limitation of influence;
10. Require all foreign monies being used to influence government to be reported and posted on the internet so there is one center of information about the flow of cash. It will stun people to learn how many foreign entities now seek to influence the United States;
11. Establish a back home standard of honesty and expectations. If you can’t explain it back home without lying then it is wrong. Service before self is a pretty good standard even in Washington. If you have to pretend something is charitable when it is clearly personal it is wrong. Washington will presently get caught up in sophisticated, complicated self analysis when the facts are pretty simple. People did the wrong things and they should not be allowed to get away with it.



There are two broader measures that are symptomatic of an unhealthy system:

1. End the Senate hold system on Presidential appointments and eliminate the arrogance of individual Senators blackmailing the President of the United States over extraneous issues with the compliance of their colleagues in what is in effect a mugging of the Executive Branch and a major contribution to the arrogance of power in the Senate;

2. Shrink the size of the federal government and move power out of Washington and back to the 50 states, the 3300 counties and even more importantly to the American people. As long as government is this big, spends this much, and is this powerful the struggle to control and influence it will overwhelm any legal and regulatory remedy. All real reformers should want smaller government and less power in Washington.

Enforce the existing rules. Many of the problems exist because people have been winking at the rules. Punish the wrong doers. Eliminate from authority those with bad judgment. Set a clear standard of honesty and candor.

Esperanzas en proyecto de status

Esperanzas en proyecto de status

Por: Dennise Y. Pérez
Enviada especial EL VOCERO

WASHINGTON, DC - Tras una reunión con el presidente de la Comisión de Energía y Recursos del Senado, Pete Domeneci, el ex gobernador Pedro Rosselló se mostró esperanzado en que habrá un proyecto de status "bipartita y bicameral".

"Entiendo que sí. Obviamente esas son decisiones que ellos tomarán luego pero lo que se está desarrollando es eso, que haya un proyecto bipartita y bicameral", expresó Rosselló a EL VOCERO, a su salida de la reunión con Domeneci, republicano por Nuevo México.

A esta reunión asistió acompañado del comisionado residente en Washington, Luis Fortuño.Sin embargo, esta vez no lucieron tan distantes como el lunes pasado. Se saludaron al llegar, se marcharon un momento a conversar a solas y luego de la reunión, de alguna media hora de duración, Fortuño le presentó al secretario del Departamento de Energía federal, que esperaba por el senador Domeneci, Samuel Bodman.Fortuño admitió que de esa reunión no salió un compromiso.

"El proceso legislativo no es así, no es blanco o negro, es gris", dijo. "Entiendo que fue en la misma línea del martes pasado. Que le iba a dar una reunión a cada grupo. Fue muy positiva la reunión. Es parte del esfuerzo", expresó.La "línea" del pasado martes a la que se refiere Fortuño es la expresión que Domeneci hizo en conjunto con el senador demócrata de mayor rango en el comité.

"El Congreso tiene un papel importante con respecto a la posición de Puerto Rico y está revisando el reporte del Grupo de Trabajo del Presidente. Puerto Rico tiene a Luis Fortuño como representante en la Cámara de Representantes, y nosotros anticipamos que la Cámara empezará la consideración del reporte en una manera oportuna. Nuestro Comité considerará con cuidado esos procedimientos cuando nosotros emprendamos nuestra propia revisión del reporte", leía su declaración escrita. Previo a eso había dicho que el informe era poco profundo.Aún así, Fortuño piensa que algo pasará. "Yo te diría que ese es mi sentir, pero hay mucho trabajo que hacer", expresó. "El tiene el deseo, pero no quiero poner palabras en su boca", agregó.

Rosselló, por su parte, sostuvo que Domeneci se mostró abierto a escuchar y a ver lo que los miembros de su Comisión de Energía tienen que decir."Habló mucho del proceso que va a comenzar por el lado de la Cámara. La intención es que haya un proyecto en la Cámara y que aquí haya uno similar o igual", expresó.Domeneci, según Fortuño, dijo que la daría una reunión a cada una de las partes interesadas.Antes de esa reunión, Rosselló y Fortuño se reunieron con el senador Ken Salazar, demócrata por Colorado.

La primera reunión del día de Rosselló fue con el senador John Kerry, de Massachussetts, y ex candidato presidencial por el Partido Demócrata. Además se reunieron con el puertorriqueño José Serrano, demócrata por Nueva York; Ben Nelson, demócrata por Nebraska; Conrad Burns, republicano por Montana; Evan Bayh, demócrata por Indiana; Bill Nelson, demócrata por Florida; Richard Pombo, republicano por California; Lincoln Díaz Baralt, republicano por Florida; y Tim Johnson, demócrata por Dakota del Sur.

Reagan's Birthday Remembered

Reagan's Birthday Remembered


February 6 marks the birthday of one of America's greatest presidents -- Ronald Reagan. Today we remember President Reagan for restoring America's faith and optimism. We note his efforts to reduce the size and influence of government while expanding economic freedoms here at home. We shall never forget his efforts to bring down communism and end the "Evil Empire."

La movida en Carolina esta con Epi Jr !

Este domingo 5 de febrero del 2006 el Vice-Presidente de la Camara, Epi Jr , radico su candidatura a presidente municipal del PNP en Carolina para luego ser ratificado candidato a la Alcaldia de Carolina. Todo el Liderato de Carolina estubo presente para la actividad. Otros presidentes de precinto que radicaron fueron los de los precintos 106,107 y 108. En la actividad se demostro que la movida en Carolina esta con Epi Jr.

Chávez convoca marcha por independencia de Puerto Rico

Chávez convoca marcha por independencia de Puerto Rico

Domingo, 29 de enero de 2006

CARACAS (EFE) - El presidente venezolano, Hugo Chávez, convocó hoy a las "madres e hijas" de su país a marchar el Día de la Mujer a la embajada de EEUU para entregar "miles y miles" de firmas contra la guerra en Irak y por la independencia de Puerto Rico."Organicen comités de recolección de firmas en todos los barrios, en todos los pueblos y ciudades y el 8 de marzo una marcha de madres y de hijas a la embajada de los Estados Unidos a apoyar esta causa de la paz y de la vida", dijo Chávez en su programa de radio y televisión "¡Aló, presidente!".Abrazando a una estadounidense y a una portorriqueña, respectivamente madre de un soldado estadounidense muerto en Irak y esposa de un independentista de Puerto Rico "masacrado" por la policía de EEUU, según aseguró, Chávez invitó "a Venezuela toda a que se levante y diga: exigimos la independencia de Puerto Rico" y "el retorno de los soldados norteamericanos de Irak"."¡Que cese la agresión contra cualquier pueblo del mundo (...); la absurda, ilegal e inmoral agresión contra el pueblo de Irak es parte de una retahíla de invasiones del capitalismo, y no estamos exagerando para nada al decir que se puede acabar el mundo (...) por este modelo (...), que pretende seguir imponiéndose a punta de bombas", subrayó.El gobernante izquierdista venezolano reiteró que "seguro que irá despertando el pueblo de EEUU", cuyo gobierno "nos amenaza también a nosotros, a Venezuela"."El camino a la salvación no es otro que el del socialismo", añadió Chávez en presencia de varios asistentes al Foro Social Mundial que celebró en Caracas su VI edición anual y que hoy cerró sus cinco jornadas de debates, entre ellos el editor del semanario francés Le Monde Diplomatique, Ignacio Ramonet, el cineasta argentino Fernando Pino Solanas y el economista egipcio Samir Amin. "¡Este siglo tenemos que enterrar al imperio.....

Rossello at the National Press Club this Monday Feb. 6 at 12:30pm

National Press Club
529 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20045

February 6, 2006

Time: 12:30 PM

Event Type: News Conference

Event Name: 100 Thousand Petitions Sponsored by: Quinn, Gilespie & Associates

Event Location: First Amendment Lounge

Details: 100 Thousand Petitions for Congressional Action on Puerto Rico Status

Former Puerto Rico Governor will be at George Washington University

The Unfinished Business of American Democracy

Monday Feb 06

5:30pm

Marvin Center Grand Ballroom.

Former Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Rossello will give an exclusive speech addressing the need to resolve the current territorial status of Puerto Rico. A must-see event, Gov. Pedro Rossello will highlight the need for Congress to take on the issue in an effort to put an end to Puerto Rico's colonial era.

Domenici, Bingaman Statement on the Status of Puerto Rico

Domenici, Bingaman Statement on the Status of Puerto Rico

February 1st, 2006
"Congress has an important role with respect to the status of Puerto Rico and is reviewing the report of the President's Task Force. Puerto Rico has an elected Resident Commissioner, Luis Fortuño, in the U. S. House of Representatives, and we anticipate that the House will begin consideration of the report in a timely manner. Our Committee will carefully consider those proceedings as we undertake our own review of the report."

"El Congreso tiene un papel importante con respecto a la posición de Puerto Rico y esta revisando el reporte del Grupo de trabajo del Presidente. Puerto Rico tiene a Luis Fortuño como representante en la Cámara de Representantes, y nosotros anticipamos que la Cámara empezará la consideración del reporte en una manera oportuna. Nuestro Comité considerará con cuidado esos procedimientos cuando nosotros emprendemos nuestra propia revisión del reporte."