Lawmakers draft historic bill on Puerto Rico's territorial status

A bipartisan group of lawmakers announced last week that they have agreed on a discussion draft for a bill that would allow Puerto Rico's residents to vote on the island's territorial status. The draft, which is set to be called the Puerto Rico Status Act, was announced by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and its main sponsors, Rep. Nydia Velázquez and Puerto Rico's non-voting representative in Congress, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon.

If passed in the House and Senate, the Puerto Rico Status Act would create and fund a process by which residents of the island would take a binding vote to determine the island's status in relation to the U.S.

The ballot would not include the island's current territorial status, according to the draft. Voters would instead choose between three options: statehood, sovereignty in free association with the U.S., and independence. As the bill stands, Puerto Ricans would maintain their U.S. citizenship under all options for at least one generation.

If Puerto Rico chooses statehood, the U.S. will begin the process of admitting it as the nation's 51st state, the draft says. If the island chooses free association, it will be independent but share some agreed-upon functions with the U.S. government — and if it chooses independence, it will control all aspects of its government.

Velázquez, a Democrat from New York, called the bill a "historic opportunity to solve a centuries-old dilemma," referring to what Puerto Ricans across the political spectrum describe as a colonial relationship between the island and the states.