Thread: Puerto Rico - EMERGENCY ALERT!

EMERGENCY ALERT! Emergency Alert! Take Action!



Dear Official English supporter;

Emergency Alert!

ProEnglish has learned House Democratic leaders plan to bring H.R. 2499, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act, to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote next week!
H.R. 2499 is "stealth legislation" designed to make Spanish-speaking Puerto Rico the 51st state.

That is the only reason why the bill requires Puerto Ricans to vote on the question of statehood again, after they rejected it in three previous nation-wide elections.

This time, however, H.R. 2499's voting process is rigged in favor of statehood!

ProEnglish opposes H.R. 2499 because it does not make Puerto Rico adopt English as the language of its government as a prerequisite for statehood. Therefore if Puerto Rico is admitted as a state it will destroy our nation's unity in English and transform the U.S. into an officially bilingual country like Canada, with Spanish as our second 'official' language.
Please send your Congressman an email message and urge them to VOTE NO on H.R. 2499.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW!

What??!! Sealyon do you have a link?

Oh my God ... We don't want another state! We've got more states than we can support now!

LINK, PLEASE.

New Mexico has always recognized both Spanish and English on all official documents and that has not made the U.S. and official bi-lingual contry.

I do agree, however, that English should be the official language of all states.

H.R.2499
Title: Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009
Sponsor: Rep Pierluisi, Pedro R. [PR] (introduced 5/19/2009) Cosponsors (181)
Latest Major Action: 10/8/2009 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 164.
House Reports: 111-294ALL ACTIONS:

5/19/2009:
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

6/24/2009:
Committee Hearings Held.
7/22/2009:
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
7/22/2009:
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 30 - 8.

10/8/2009 3:45pm:
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 111-294.
10/8/2009 3:45pm:
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 164.

http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D ... arch.html|

Says nothing about making Puerto Rico a state outright. It will allow it's citizens to decide if they want to continue it's current status, become independent, an association, or a state. Don't think many Puerto Ricans are interested in becoming a state. So meh, nothing to see here.

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2499/show#

Official Summary

10/8/2009--Reported to House amended. Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009 - Authorizes the government of Puerto Rico:
(1) to conduct a plebiscite giving voters the option to vote to continue Puerto Rico's present political status or to have a different political status;
(2) if a majority of ballots favor continuing the present status, to conduct additional such plebiscites every eight years; and
(3) if a majority of ballots favor having a different status, to conduct a plebiscite on the options of becoming fully independent from the United States, forming with the United States a political association between sovereign nations that will not be subject to the Territorial Clause of the Constitution, or being admitted as a state of the Union. Prescribes the eligibility requirements for voting in the plebiscite. Requires the Puerto Rico State Elections Commission to:
(1) certify plebiscite results to the President and Congress; and
(2) ensure that all ballots used for the plebiscite include the full content of the ballot printed in English. Requires the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to pay all costs associated with such plebiscite (including the costs of printing, distribution, transportation, collection, and counting of all ballots).

Congressional Research Service Summary
The following summary was written by the Congressional Research Service, a well-respected nonpartisan arm of the Library of Congress. GovTrack did not write and has no control over these summaries.

10/8/2009--Reported to House amended. Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009 - Authorizes the government of Puerto Rico: (1) to conduct a plebiscite giving voters the option to vote to continue Puerto Rico's present political status or to have a different political status; (2) if a majority of ballots favor continuing the present status, to conduct additional such plebiscites every eight years; and (3) if a majority of ballots favor having a different status, to conduct a plebiscite on the options of becoming fully independent from the United States, forming with the United States a political association between sovereign nations that will not be subject to the Territorial Clause of the Constitution, or being admitted as a state of the Union. Prescribes the eligibility requirements for voting in the plebiscite. Requires the Puerto Rico State Elections Commission to: (1) certify plebiscite results to the President and Congress; and (2) ensure that all ballots used for the plebiscite include the full content of the ballot printed in English. Requires the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to pay all costs associated with such plebiscite (including the costs of printing, distribution, transportation, collection, and counting of all ballots).


Found the same thing...no worry...

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtex ... =h111-2499