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Do not fill this in! ===Political status=== {{Main|Political status of Puerto Rico|Proposed political status for Puerto Rico}} The nature of Puerto Rico's political relationship with the U.S. is the subject of [[Political status of Puerto Rico#Controversies|ongoing debate]] in Puerto Rico, the [[United States Congress]], and the [[United Nations]].<ref name="sdc">{{cite press release |title=Special committee on decolonization approves text calling on United States to expedite Puerto Rican self-determination process |date=13 June 2006 |publisher=Department of Public Information, United Nations General Assembly |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/gacol3138.doc.htm |access-date=1 October 2007 |archive-date=9 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409222103/https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/gacol3138.doc.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Specifically, the basic question is whether Puerto Rico should remain an [[Territories of the United States|unincorporated territory of the U.S.]], become a [[U.S. state]], or become an independent country.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL32933.pdf |title=Political Status of Puerto Rico: Background, Options, and Issues in the 109th Congress |date=25 May 2005 |author=Keith Bea |publisher=Congressional Research Service |access-date=1 October 2007 |archive-date=28 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190928232129/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL32933.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> [[File:PR Capitol, south side.JPG|thumb|The [[Capitol of Puerto Rico]], home of the Legislative Assembly in Puerto Rico|alt=|left]] Constitutionally, Puerto Rico is subject to the [[plenary powers]] of the [[United States Congress]] under the [[territorial clause]] of [[Article Four of the United States Constitution|Article IV of the U.S. Constitution]].<ref>U.S. Const. art. IV, § 3, cl. 2 ("The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States ...").</ref> [[U.S. federal law|Laws enacted at the federal level in the United States]] apply to Puerto Rico as well, regardless of its political status. Their residents [[Federal voting rights in Puerto Rico|do not have voting representation in the U.S. Congress]]. Puerto Rico lacks "the full sovereignty of an independent nation", for example, the power to manage its "external relations with other nations", which is held by the U.S. federal government. The Supreme Court of the United States has indicated that once the U.S. Constitution has been extended to an area (by Congress or the courts), its coverage is irrevocable. To hold that the political branches may switch the Constitution on or off at will would lead to a regime in which they, not this Court, say "what the law is".<ref>[[Downes v. Bidwell]], 182 U.S. 244, 261 (1901), commenting on an earlier Supreme Court decision, Loughborough v. Blake, 18 U.S. (5 Wheat.) 317 (1820); Rasmussen v. United States, 197 U.S. 516, 529–530, 536 (1905)(concurring opinions of Justices Harlan and Brown), that once the Constitution has been extended to an area, its coverage is irrevocable; [[Boumediene v. Bush]] – That where the Constitution has been once formally extended by Congress to territories, neither Congress nor the territorial legislature can enact laws inconsistent therewith. The Constitution grants Congress and the President the power to acquire, dispose of, and govern territory, not the power to decide when and where its terms apply.</ref> Puerto Ricans "were collectively made [[U.S. citizenship#Birthright citizenship|U.S. citizens]]" in 1917 as a result of the [[Jones-Shafroth Act]].<ref>''The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion: 1803–1898''. By Sanford Levinson and Bartholomew H. Sparrow. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2005. pp. 166, 178. "U.S. citizenship was extended to residents of Puerto Rico by virtue of the Jones Act, chap. 190, 39 Stat. 951 (1971)(codified at 48 U.S.C. § 731 (1987)")</ref> U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections, though both major parties, Republican and Democratic, hold primary elections in Puerto Rico to choose delegates to vote on the parties' presidential candidates. Since Puerto Rico is an [[Unincorporated territories of the United States|unincorporated territory]] (see above) and not a U.S. state, the [[United States Constitution]] does not fully [[enfranchise]] [[U.S. citizen]]s residing in Puerto Rico.<ref name="U.S. Department of State"/><ref name="Constitutional Topic: Citizenship">{{cite web |url=http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_citi.html |title=Constitutional Topic: Citizenship |publisher=U.S. Constitution Online |access-date=6 June 2009 |archive-date=11 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211130139/http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_citi.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Only [[fundamental right]]s under the American federal constitution and adjudications are applied to Puerto Ricans. Various other U.S. Supreme Court decisions have held which rights apply in Puerto Rico and which ones do not. Puerto Ricans have a long history of service in the U.S. Armed Forces and, since 1917, they have been included in the U.S. [[compulsory draft]] whensoever it has been in effect. Though the Commonwealth government has its own tax laws, residents of Puerto Rico, contrary to a popular misconception, do pay U.S. federal taxes: customs taxes (which are subsequently returned to the Puerto Rico Treasury), import/export taxes, federal commodity taxes, social security taxes, etc. Residents pay federal [[payroll tax]]es, such as [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] and [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]], as well as Commonwealth of Puerto Rico income taxes. All federal employees, those who do business with the federal government, Puerto Rico-based corporations that intend to send funds to the U.S., and some others, such as Puerto Rican residents that are members of the U.S. military, and Puerto Rico residents who earned income from sources outside Puerto Rico also pay federal income taxes. In addition, because the cutoff point for income taxation is lower than that of the U.S. IRS code, and because the per-capita income in Puerto Rico is much lower than the average per-capita income on the mainland, more Puerto Rico residents pay income taxes to the local taxation authority than if the IRS code were applied to the island. This occurs because "the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico government has a wider set of responsibilities than do U.S. State and local governments."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://stanford.wellsphere.com/healthcare-industry-policy-article/puerto-rico/267827 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100401034052/http://stanford.wellsphere.com/healthcare-industry-policy-article/puerto-rico/267827 |archive-date=1 April 2010 |title=Puerto Ricans pay federal commodity taxes |publisher=Stanford.wellsphere.com |access-date=30 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc903.html |title=Internal Revenue Service. ', Topic 903 – Federal Employment Tax in Puerto Rico' |publisher=Irs.gov |date=18 December 2009 |access-date=14 August 2010 |archive-date=3 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703133155/https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc903.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=reuters2009-09-24>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE58N5X320090924 |title=Reuters, 'Puerto Rico hopes to gain from U.S. healthcare reform', 24 September 2009 |work=Reuters |date=24 September 2009 |access-date=14 August 2010 |archive-date=30 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130062125/https://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE58N5X320090924 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Schaefer |first=Brett |url=http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/03/dc-voting-rights-no-representation-no-taxation |title=The Heritage Foundation, 11 March 2009. "D.C. Voting Rights: No Representation? No Taxation!", By Robert A. Book, PhD |publisher=Heritage.org |access-date=16 October 2010 |archive-date=29 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429113102/http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/03/dc-voting-rights-no-representation-no-taxation |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mcvpr.com/CM/CurrentEvents/CEOsummitarticle.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515142411/http://www.mcvpr.com/CM/CurrentEvents/CEOsummitarticle.pdf |archive-date=15 May 2011 |title=Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association, CEO Summit, Federal and Local Incentives: Where we are, Where We Want to be. Amaya Iraolagoitia, Partner, Tax Dept. |access-date=14 August 2010 }}</ref><ref name=jct>{{cite web |url=http://www.jct.gov/x-24-06.pdf |title=Joint Committee on Taxation. ''An Overview of the Special Tax Rules Related to Puerto Rico and an Analysis of the Tax and Economic Policy Implications of Recent Legislative Options'' |access-date=14 August 2010 |archive-date=3 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090903121058/http://www.jct.gov/x-24-06.pdf }}</ref>{{#Tag:Ref|Members of the military must pay federal income tax<ref name=reuters2009-09-24 /><ref name=jct />}} In 2009, Puerto Rico paid {{Nowrap|$3.742 billion}} into the [[U.S. Treasury]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/09db05co.xls |title=Table 5. Internal Revenue Gross Collections, by Type of Tax and State, Fiscal year 2009 |publisher=[[Internal Revenue Service]] |format=XLS |access-date=11 August 2017 |archive-date=9 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709062753/https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/09db05co.xls |url-status=live }}</ref> Residents of Puerto Rico pay into Social Security, and are thus eligible for Social Security benefits upon retirement. They are excluded from the [[Supplemental Security Income]] (SSI), and the island actually receives a smaller fraction of the [[Medicaid]] funding it would receive if it were a U.S. state.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-healthcare-puertorico-idUSTRE58N5X320090924 ''Puerto Rico hopes to gain from U.S. healthcare reform.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016022450/http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/09/24/us-healthcare-puertorico-idUSTRE58N5X320090924 |date=16 October 2015 }} Reuters. 24 September 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2012.</ref> Also, Medicare providers receive less-than-full state-like reimbursements for services rendered to beneficiaries in Puerto Rico, even though the latter paid fully into the system.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prfaa.com/news/?p=252 |title=News & Media |publisher=PRFAA |date=6 July 2009 |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511054048/http://www.prfaa.com/news/?p=252 |archive-date=11 May 2011 }}</ref> Puerto Rico's authority to enact a criminal code derives from Congress and not from local sovereignty as with the states. Thus, individuals committing a crime can only be tried in federal or territorial court, otherwise it would constitute double jeopardy and is constitutionally impermissible.<ref name="Martínez Torres" /> In 1992, President [[George H. W. Bush]] issued a memorandum to heads of executive departments and agencies establishing the current administrative relationship between the federal government and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This memorandum directs all federal departments, agencies, and officials to treat Puerto Rico administratively as if it were a state, insofar as doing so would not disrupt federal programs or operations. Many federal executive branch agencies have significant presence in Puerto Rico, just as in any state, including the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]], [[Transportation Security Administration]], [[Social Security Administration]], and others. While Puerto Rico has its own [[judiciary of Puerto Rico|Commonwealth judicial system]] similar to that of a U.S. state, there is also a U.S. federal district court in Puerto Rico, and Puerto Ricans have served as judges in that Court and in other federal courts on the U.S. mainland regardless of their residency status at the time of their appointment. [[Sonia Sotomayor]], a [[Nuyorican|New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent]], serves as an [[Associate Justice|associate justice]] of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]. Puerto Ricans have also been frequently appointed to high-level federal positions, including serving as [[Ambassadors of the United States|United States ambassadors]] to other nations. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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