Enclosed is this Commission's comments on an earlier version of this bill, H.R. 5926, introduced in the 86th Congress. Since there have been no substantial changes in H.R. 9234 affecting this Commission, our comments remain the same. Sincerely yours, JOHN C. DOERFER. Chairman.

COMMENTS OF FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION ON H.R. 5926, 86TH CONGRESS, A BILL TO PROVIDE FOR AMENDMENTS TO THE COMPACT BETWEEN THE PEOPLE OF PUERTO RICO AND THE UNITED STATES

This bill, among other things, provides for a transfer of functions, duties, and services performed by the Federal Government in Puerto Rico to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as the Commonwealth's ability to do so permits and excepts those which the Federal Government should retain. The President of the United States shall from time to time dispose of land, buildings, and other interests or property in Puerto Rico, owned or controlled by the United States, which are not needed for essential public purposes of the United States, which shall be first offered to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Each Federal agency which owns or controls property in Puerto Rico shall report it within no later than 2 years and describe the need, if any, for a continuation thereof. President of the United States may accept from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico any lands, buildings, or other interests or property which may be needed for public purposes of the United States. Except as otherwise provided, the Federal Government shall have and may exercise the same powers in respect of Puerto Rico that it has in respect of the several States of the Union.

The

Proposed H.R. 5926 would not amend the Federal Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and Federal control of matters under that act will continue unabated. Accordingly, it does not seem that proposed H.R. 5926 would create any distinctive problems for the Commission, and the Commission has no objection to its passage. Adopted: June 3, 1959.

[H.R. 7003, 86th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To provide for a referendum in Puerto Rico on the admission of Puerto Rico into the Union as a State, and to establish the procedure for such admission if the people of Puerto Rico desire it.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

TITLE I-REFERENDUM

SEC. 101. An islandwide referendum shall be held in Puerto Rico in order to enable the qualified voters of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to vote for admission of Puerto Rico into the Union in accordance with title II of this Act. SEC. 102. The returns of the referendum held under this title shall be made to the Governor of Puerto Rico, who shall cause them to be canvassed in the manner provided by law for the canvass of votes cast in general elections in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. If a majority of the qualified voters voting in a referendum under this title vote in favor of admission into the Union, the Governor shall certify to the President of the United States of the decision of the people of Puerto Rico, and title II of this Act shall take effect on the day following the date of such certification.

SEC. 103. The election laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall apply to the referendum held under this title, except insofar as they conflict with this title. The Governor of Puerto Rico shall prescribe such regulations governing the conduct of the referendum under this title as may be necessary to supplement such laws in order to carry out this section.

TITLE II-STATEHOOD

SEC. 201. (a) If this title takes effect as provided in section 102, it may be cited as the "Puerto Rico Statehood Act."

(b) The inhabitants of all that part of the United States now constituting the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as at present described, may become the State of Puerto Rico, as hereinafter provided.

SEC. 202. (a) All citizens of the United States who are qualified to vote for representatives of the Legislative Assembly of the Commonwealth of Puerto

Rico are hereby authorized to vote for and choose delegates, having the same qualifications, to form a constitutional convention in Puerto Rico. The convention shall consist of one delegate from each of the representative districts and four delegates at large.

(b) The Governor of Puerto Rico shall, within thirty days after the effective date of this title, issue a proclamation ordering an election of such delegates to be held at a time designated in the proclamation within eight months after the effective date of this title, and providing also for a preceding primary election and for filings by independent or nonparty candidates, which proclamation shall be issued at least two months prior to the time of holding said primary election and four months before the date of election of such delegates. The nomination, filing, and election of such delegates shall be conducted, the returns made, the results ascertained, and the certificates of persons elected to such convention issued in the same manner, as nearly as is practicable as is prescribed by the laws regulating nominations and elections of members of the Legislative Assembly of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

SEC. 203. (a) The delegates to the convention so elected shall meet at San Juan, Puerto Rico, on the first Tuesday following the thirtieth day after their election, unless that date should occur during a session of the Legislative Assembly of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, in which event the constitutional convention shall convene on the first Tuesday following adjournment of the legislative session. After organization, the delegates thereto shall declare on behalf of the people of the proposed State that they adopt the Constitution of the United States, whereupon the said convention shall form a constitution and State government for the proposed State.

(b) The constitution shall be republican in form, shall make no distinction in civil or political rights on account of race or color, shall not be repugnant to the Constitution of the United States and the principles of the Declaration of Independence. Said convention shall provide in said constitution :

First. That perfect freedom of religious worship shall be secured, and that no inhabitant of said State shall ever be molested in person or property on account of his mode of religious worship.

Second. That said State and its people do agree and declare that they forever disclaim all right and title to any lands or other property not granted or confirmed to the State or its political subdivisions by or under the authority of this title, the right or title to which is held by the United States or is subject to disposition to by the United States; that all such lands or other property, belonging to the United States, shall be and remain under the absolute jurisdiction and control of the United States until disposed of under its authority, except to such extent as the Congress has prescribed or may hereafter prescribe; and that no taxes shall be imposed by said State upon any lands or other property now owned or hereafter acquired by the United States, except to such extent as the Congress has prescribed or may hereafter prescribe.

Third. That authority is granted to and acknowledged in the United States for the exercise by the Congress of the United States of the power of exclusive legislation as provided by article 1, section 8, clause 17, of the Constitution of the United States in all cases whatsoever over such tracts or parcels of land as are now owned by the United States and held for military, air, naval, or Coast Guard purposes, whether reserved or acquired by purchase, condemnation, donation, or exchange; saving, however, to the State of Puerto Rico the right to serve civil or criminal process within the limits of the aforesaid reservations in suits or prosecutions for or on account of rights acquired, obligations incurred, or crimes committed in said State, but, outside of said reservation; and the legislative assembly is authorized and directed to enact any law necessary and proper to give effect to this article.

Fourth. That the debts and liabilities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall be assumed and paid by said State and all debts owed to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall be collected by said State.

Fifth. That provisions shall be made for the establishment and maintenance of a system of public schools, which shall be open to all children of said State and free from sectarian control.

Sixth. That all provisions of this Act reserving rights or powers to the United States, as well as those prescribing the terms or conditions of the grants of lands or other property herein made to said State, are consented to fully by said State and its people.

Seventh That the lands and other property belonging to the citizens of the United States residing without said State shall never be taxed at a higher rate than the lands and other property belonging to residents thereof.

SEC. 204. The State of Puerto Rico and its political subdivisions, respectively, shall have and retain title to all property, real and personal, title to which is in Puerto Rico or any of the subdivisions, and is hereby granted title to all property, real and personal, that is now under the control of the government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Except as provided in the preceding sentence, the United States shall retain title to all property, real and personal, to which it has title, including public lands.

SEC. 205. (a) After a constitution and State government have been formed in compliance with the provisions of this title, the convention forming the same shall provide by ordinance for submitting said constitution, for ratification or rejection, to the people of said proposed State at an election to be held at a date to be fixed by said convention, which shall be not more than one hundred days from the date of its adjournment, at which election the citizens of said proposed State who are qualified to vote for members of the Legislative Assembly of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall vote directly for or against the proposed constitution. The returns of said election shall be made to the Governor of Puerto Rico, who shall cause the same to be canvassed in the manner provided by law for the canvass of votes cast in general elections in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. If a majority of the legal votes cast at said election shall reject the constitution, the Governor of Puerto Rico shall, by proclamation, order the constitutional convention to reassemble at a date not later than forty days after the votes have been canvassed as herein provided, and thereafter a new constitution may be formed by such convention and the same proceedings shall be taken in regard thereto in like manner as if said constitution were being originally prepared for submission and submitted to the people: Provided, That not more than two elections shall be held under the authority of this subsection.

(b) When said constitution shall have been duly ratified by the people of Puerto Rico, as aforesaid, by a majority of the legal votes cast at an election held pursuant to this section, the Governor of Puerto Rico shall certify the result to the President of the United States, together with a statement of the votes cast thereon and upon separate articles and propositions, together with a copy of said constitution, articles, propositions, and ordinances.

(c) If the constitution and government of said proposed State are republican in form, and if all the provisions of this title have been complied with in the formation thereof, it shall be the duty of the President to certify said facts to the Governor of Puerto Rico, who shall within thirty days after receipt of such notification from the President issue a proclamation for the election of all State and other officers provided for in said constitution, including members of the State legislature, said election to take place, not earlier than two months nor later than six months after the date of issuance of said proclamation by the Governor.

SEC. 206. (a) The constitutional convention shall by ordinance provide that in case of ratification of the constitution by the people and in case the President approves the same, an election shall be held at the time named in the proclamation of the Governor of Puerto Rico hereinbefore provided, at which election officers for a full State government, including a Governor, members of the State legislature, one Representative to be elected at large, and two Senators in the Congress of the United States to be elected at large from said State, and such other officers as the constitution shall prescribe, shall be chosen by the qualified voters of Puerto Rico. No identification or designation of either of the two senatorial offices, however, shall refer to or be taken to refer to the term of that office, nor shall any such identification or designation in any way impair the privilege of the Senate to determine the class to which each of the Senators elected shall be assigned. Unless the constitutional convention shall by ordinance otherwise provide, such election, and an antecedent primary election, shall be held, and the returns thereof made, canvassed, and certified by the canvassing board, in the same manner, as nearly as practicable, as is now prescribed by law for the nomination, filing, and election, and canvass and certification of election of members of the Legislative Assembly of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. When such State and other officers and members of the State legislature and the Representative and Senators in the Congress of the United States shall be so elected and the returns thereof made, canvassed, and certified as herein provided, the Governor of Puerto Rico shall certify the result of said election to the President of the United States, who shall thereupon immediately issue his proclamation announcing the result of said election so ascertained, and upon the issuance of said proclamation by the President of the United States the State of Puerto

Rico shall be deemed admitted by Congress into the Union by virtue of this title, on an equal footing with each of the other States of the Union, and the Representative and Senators from said State in the Congress of the United States so elected and certified shall thereupon be entitled to seats in the House of Representatives and Senate of the United States and to all of the rights and privileges of Representatives and Senators therein. Until the issuance of said proclamation by the President of the United States and until said State is so admitted into the Union and said officers are elected and qualified under the provisions of the Constitution, all of the officers of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, including the Resident Commissioner, shall continue to discharge the duties of said respective offices in and for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

(b) Upon admission of Puerto Rico as a State as herein provided, and upon election and qualification of the officers of the State government formed in pursuance of and in accordance with the provisions of said constitution, said officers shall forthwith proceed to exercise all of the duties and functions of their respective offices; and all of the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in force therein at the time of admission of said State into the Union shall be and continue in full force and effect throughout said State except as modified or changed by this title, or by the constitution of the State, or as thereafter modified or changed by the legislature of the State. All of the laws of the United States shall have the same force and effect within said State as elsewhere within the United States.

(c) The State of Puerto Rico, upon its admission into the Union, shall be entitled to one Representative until the taking effect of the next reapportionment, and such Representative shall be in addition to the membership of the House of Representatives as now prescribed by law. Such temporary increase in the membership shall not operate to either increase or decrease the permanent membership of the House of Representatives as prescribed in the Act of August 8, 1911 (37 Stat. 13), nor shall such temporary increase affect the basis of apportionment established by the Act of November 15, 1941 (55 Stat. 761; 2 U.S.C. 2a), for the Eighty-third Congress and each Congress thereafter.

SEC. 207. The sum of $100,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, for defraying the expenses of the elections provided for in this title and of the convention, and for the payment of the members and officers and employees thereof under the same rules and regulations and at the same rates as are provided in the case of members of the Legislative Assembly of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the disbursements of money appropriated by this section shall be made by the Treasurer of Puerto Rico.

SEC. 208. Effective upon the admission of the State of Puerto Rico into the Union

(1) the State of Puerto Rico shall constitute a judicial district within the first judicial circuit, to be known as the District of Puerto Rico;

(2) the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico established by and existing under title 28 of the United States Code shall thenceforth be a court of the United States with judicial power derived from article III, section 1, of the Constitution of the United States: Provided, however, That the term of office of the district judge for the District of Puerto Rico then in office shall terminate upon the effective date of this section and the President, pursuant to sections 133 and 134 of title 28, United States Code, as amended by this title, shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a district judge for the said district who shall hold office during good behavior; and

(3) the first sentence of subsection (a) of section 134 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking out "and, except in Puerto Rico," and the second sentence of such subsection (a) is hereby repealed.

SEC. 209. Effective upon the admission of the State of Puerto Rico into the Union

(1) the second paragraph of section 451 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking out the words "including the United States District for the District of Puerto Rico,".

SEC. 210. (a) No writ, action, indictment, cause, or proceeding pending in any court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, shall abate by reason of the admission of said State into the Union, but the same shall be transferred to and proceed with in such appropriate State courts as shall be established under the constitution to be

thus formed, or shall continue in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, as the nature of the case may require. And no writ, action, indictment, cause, or proceeding shall abate by reason of any change in the courts, but shall be proceeded with in the State or United States courts according to the laws thereof, respectively. And the appropriate State courts shall be the successors of the courts of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as to all cases arising within the limits embraced within the jurisdiction of such courts, respectively, with full power to proceed with the same, and award means or final process therein, and all the files, records, indictments, and proceedings relating to any such writ, action, indictment, cause, or proceeding shall be transferred to such appropriate State courts, and the same shall be proceeded with therein in due course of law.

(b) All civil causes of action and all criminal offenses which shall have arisen or been committed prior to the admission of said State, but as to which no writ, action, indictment, or proceeding shall be pending at the date of such admission, shall be subject to prosecution in the appropriate State courts or in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico in like manner, to the same extent, and with like right of appellate review, as if said State had been created and said State courts had been established prior to the accrual of such causes of action or the commission of such offenses. The admission of said State shall effect no change in the substantive or criminal law governing such causes of action and criminal offenses which shall have arisen or been committed; and such of said criminal offenses as shall have been committed against the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall be tried and punished by the appropriate courts of said State, and such as shall have been committed against the laws of the United States shall be tried and punished in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.

SEO. 211. Parties shall have the same rights of appeal from and appellate review of final decisions of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico or the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico in any case finally decided prior to admission of said State into the Union, whether or not an appeal therefrom shall have been perfected prior to such admission, and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States shall have the same jurisdiction therein, as by law provided prior to admission of said State into the Union, and any mandate issued subsequent to the admission of said State shall be to the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico or a court of the State, as may be appropriae. Parties shall have the same rights of appeal from and appellate review of all orders. judgments, and decrees of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, and of the State court which is the successor to the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, in any case pending at the time of admission of said State into the Union, and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States shall have the same jurisdiction therein, as by law provided in any case arising subsequent to the admission of said State into the Union.

SEC. 212. (a) Effective upon the admission of the State of Puerto Rico into the Union

(1) the first paragraph of section 1252 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking out "and any court of record of Puerto Rico":

(2) section 1293 of title 28 of the United States Code is hereby repealed. and the analysis of chapter 83 of such title 28 is amended by striking out "1293. Final decisions of Puerto Rico and Hawaii Supreme Courts.";

(3) section 1294 of title 28 of the United States Code is amended by striking out paragraph (4) and by renumbering paragraph (5) accordingly: (4) the first paragraph of section 373 of title 28. United States Code, is amended by striking out "United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico," :

(5) section 3771 of title 18 of the United States Code is amended by striking out "in the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico,”;

(6) section 3772 of title 18 of the United States Code is amended by striking out in the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico,".

(b) The amendment made by paragraph (4) of subsection (a) of this section shall not affect the rights of any judge or justice who may have retired before the effective date of this section.

SEC. 213. All laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in force therein at the time of its admission into the Union shall continue in force in the State of Puerto