Congressional Record, House, March 2, 2022: Page H1267

Summary

Page H1267 of the House section of the Congressional Record for March 2, 2022, in interleaved columns. A speaker on drug policy says drug overdose deaths rose from 47,000 a year to 100,000 and that the President does not talk about fentanyl, which is the speaker's claim, and looks forward to the election cycle this fall. Miss Gonzalez-Colon joins colleagues to commemorate the 105th anniversary of granting U.S. citizenship to the people of Puerto Rico and to reaffirm a commitment to full rights, noting that Federal laws apply to the island without a say or vote on each of them.

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“Congressional Record, House, March 2, 2022: Page H1267.” Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2022-03-02-crec-2022-03-02-pt1-pgh1267-ed2c2f34d7/, SHA-256 73d9c904290b65f2c3663566d7329d7ff3326641b3e0bb0aaca76c317569a502.

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March 2, 2022 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H1267
I got this job only 7 years ago. At the So we are here. We are going to con- There was no objection.
time, 47,000 people a year died of drug tinue to work on this side of the aisle Miss GONZÁLEZ-COLÓN. Madam
overdoses. By comparison, in 12 years to fix these problems, and we look for- Speaker, I rise today joined by a good
during the Vietnam war, 57,000 people ward to the election cycle this fall group of colleagues and legislators here
died. And every politician was supposed where we believe the fortunes around in the House to commemorate the
to talk about it. Now we shoot up from here are going to change pretty sub- 105th anniversary of granting U.S. citi-
47,000 to 100,000 people, and President stantially. zenship to the people of Puerto Rico
Biden can’t even bring himself to talk Madam Speaker, I thank my col- and to reaffirm our commitment to full
about fentanyl, the drug responsible leagues for being here tonight, and I equality for the island’s two million
for most of those deaths. yield back the balance of my time. Americans, which can only be achieved
I don’t know why he wouldn’t talk The SPEAKER pro tempore. Mem- through statehood.
about fentanyl. My guess is because bers are reminded to refrain from en- Many people will ask how long has
overwhelmingly it is coming across the gaging in personalities toward the Puerto Rico been part of the United
southern border, and he doesn’t want President. States? Before the Spanish-American
to do anything about the southern bor- War, Puerto Rico was part of Spain.
der. However, I would hope in the fu- f After the Spanish-American War we be-
ture, President Biden would meet with CONGRESS MUST UNIFY AND came a possession, a territory of the
law enforcement around the country, STAND FOR THE AMERICAN PEO- United States in 1898.
find out what it is like to have to tell PLE In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt
the parents or siblings or children of called on Congress to confer American
the people who have died that their rel- (Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was citizenship to Puerto Ricans. Legisla-
ative has died. That is a horrible thing. given permission to address the House tion was introduced to that effect be-
And I think to gloss over the 100,000 for 1 minute.) tween 1912 and 1913, which was sup-
deaths we have every year in this coun- Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, ported by President William Howard
try—twice the number of people who last evening the President of the Taft and then the Wilson administra-
died in the 12 years in Vietnam—was I United States was strong, and he was tion. President Wilson had even cam-
thought very callous. But, again, I clear to stay away from divisive rhet- paigned in 1912 on a promise to ensure
would encourage President Biden to oric. But do my friends on the other U.S. citizenship for Puerto Ricans.
ask members of his administration to side of the aisle realize that anything On this day, March 2nd, President
get out and about a little bit, talk to that has not been accomplished is be- Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-
relatives of people who have died of cause they have been obstructionists? Shafroth Act, which extended statu-
drug overdoses, particularly fentanyl, The Wall Street Journal says that tory U.S. citizenship to the residents of
and maybe it will cause him to devote the President and his American Rescue the island.
a little bit more time on that in next Plan has led to less damage, and it is The Jones-Shafroth Act would not be
year’s State of the Union address when the biggest and best recovery, at least the last time Congress acted on a ques-
he realizes what a horrible situation we in the past 50 years. It has had the tion of citizenship. In 1940, the Nation-
have. least economic impact in terms of ality Act conferred birthright citizen-
There are many other things that I long-term unemployment, weak label ship to persons born in Puerto Rico.
don’t think were addressed accurately markers, inexperienced workers, evic- The signing of the 1917 law cemented
or in depth during the State of the tions and foreclosures. President our relationship as an integral part of
Union address that should have been. Biden’s American Rescue Plan has led the United States.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam to less of that than any recovery in the For 150 years, Puerto Ricans have
Speaker, I thank Mr. GROTHMAN. That last 50 years. been proud American citizens, and we
was well said. There is lot. We know We know that in Ukraine it is a dis- have contributed greatly to this coun-
you can go all night because there was aster. People are dying. It is Putin’s try in every field of endeavor. We even
a lot to complain about. war, but the President has brought have Supreme Court judges, a lot of en-
Madam Speaker, tonight you have NATO together. trepreneurs, and many others in many
heard the response of so many of my And, yes, if we could pass Build Back areas. We proudly uphold and defend
Republican colleagues to the lack- Better, which they have obstructed, we the ideals that define our Nation, in-
luster State of the Union address that would be able to have childcare for all cluding more than 235,000 Puerto
was held here last evening. Perhaps the of America. Ricans who have honorably served in
most glaring problem with his speech So I wanted to just, for this one mo- the U.S. Armed Forces fighting side-
is that the President tried to ignore ment, get on the floor to say in all that by-side with our fellow citizens from
the fact that it is his lack of leadership they have said, why don’t they take the States.
that is what has created this dangerous the call of the President? Let’s unify Yet, despite our contributions, de-
situation that we are all in right now. and stand for the American people. spite a longstanding commitment to
All the crises you have heard about, Stop complaining, and let’s get to the values that come with being an
the American people know the facts. work. President Biden called us to American citizen, the reality is that we
I grew up in the seventies and work as a strong America. are still not equal. That is the reality
eighties. I was a child of the Reagan of Puerto Ricans every day. And then
era, and we remember in the Cold War f
you have 3.2 million Americans living
he reminded us we maintain the peace FULL EQUALITY FOR PUERTO on the island and more than 5 million
through our strength. What he commu- RICO living on the mainland. That tells you
nicated to us so clearly is weakness in- that because of the current territorial
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under
vites aggression. We have projected status, Americans in Puerto Rico lack
weakness on the world stage, and it is the Speaker’s announced policy of Jan-
uary 4, 2021, the Chair recognizes the full voting representation in this Con-
inviting Russian aggression. We pray gress.
and hope that we do not get a similar gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss
GONZÁLEZ-COLÓN) for 30 minutes. For example, I can represent people
aggression from our other adversaries on this floor, but I cannot vote here for
like China, North Korea, Iran, and the GENERAL LEAVE
any measure that affects my island.
rest. Miss GONZÁLEZ-COLÓN. Madam
The only thing holding back terror- Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that b 1845

SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with HOUSE
ists and tyrants and dictators and all Members have 5 legislative days to I do the job of at least four Members
rogue operators around the globe is revise and extend their remarks and to of Congress. We do not have Senators
their perception of a strong America. include extraneous material on the that can be the voice of Puerto Rico
That is what we stand for. We wish we subject of this Special Order. because they are not elected on the is-
could have heard that from the Presi- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there land. Yet, we need to apply all Federal
dent in a more honest tone last night, objection to the request of the gentle- laws to the island but without having a
but we didn’t get it. woman from Puerto Rico? say or a vote on each of them.

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