Friday, April 30, 2010

Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)

H.R.2499
Title: Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009
Sponsor:
Rep Pierluisi, Pedro R. [PR] (introduced 5/19/2009) Cosponsors (181)
Related Bills: H.RES.1305
Latest Major Action: 4/28/2010 Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 1305 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 2499 with 1 hour and 30 minutes of general debate. Previous question shall be considered as ordered without intervening motions except motion to recommit with or without instructions. Measure will be considered read. Specified amendments are in order. The resolution provides that the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Natural Resources now printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill for the purpose of amendment. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived except those arising under clauses 9 and 10 of rule XXI.
House Reports: 111-294


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Congress approves referendum on Puerto Rico future - Yahoo! News

Congress approves referendum on Puerto Rico future - Yahoo! News: "By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer Jim Abrams, Associated Press Writer – 19 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The House on Thursday approved legislation that could set in motion changes in Puerto Rico's 112-year relationship with the United States, including a transition to statehood or independence. The House bill would give the 4 million residents of the island commonwealth a two-step path to expressing how they envision their political future. It passed 223-169 and now must be considered by the Senate.

Initially, eligible voters, including those born in Puerto Rico but residing in the United States, would vote on whether they wish to keep their current political status or opt for a different direction.

If a majority are in favor of changing the current situation, the Puerto Rican government would be authorized to conduct a second vote and people would choose among four options: statehood, independence, the current commonwealth status or sovereignty in association with the United States. Congress would have to vote on whether Puerto Rico becomes a state.

Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico's nonvoting delegate to the House, said that while the island has had votes on similar issues in the past, Congress has never authorized a process where Puerto Ricans state whether they should remain a U.S. territory or seek a nonterritorial status.

'The American way is to allow people to vote, to express themselves and to tell their elected officials how they feel about their political arrangements,' said Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno at a news conference with Pierluisi. 'For 112 years, we haven't had the chance ... to fully participate in one way or another in the decisions that affect our daily lives.'

Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory at the end of the Spanish-American War. Those born on the island were granted U.S. citizenship in 1917 and Puerto Rico gained commonwealth status in 1952.

Today, Puerto Ricans serve in the military but can't vote in presidential elections. They do not pay federal income tax on income earned on the island.

In the last referendum, 'none of the above' garnered 50 percent of the vote, topping the other options, including statehood at 46.5 percent and independence at 2.5 percent.

Some of those differences were evident among lawmakers of Puerto Rican background. Puerto Rico-born Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., whose parents were from Puerto Rico, strongly opposed the measure, saying it was designed to push a statehood agenda. 'This is the Puerto Rico 51st state bill,' said Gutierrez, an independence proponent. 'The deck is stacked.'

But another Puerto Rico-born lawmaker, Democrat Jose Serrano of New York, backed it. 'I support it because for the first time in 112 years the people of Puerto Rico will have an opportunity to express themselves.'

Opposition to the House bill included Republican concerns about the consequences of Puerto Rico, where Spanish, as well as English, is the official language, becoming a state. Republicans said Puerto Rico would get some six seats in the House, possibly at the expense of other states, and that statehood would impose further burdens on the federal Treasury.

Republicans, led by Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., unsuccessfully tried to attach a provision that ballots favoring statehood make clear that a Puerto Rican state would adopt English as its official language and abide by Second Amendment gun rights. The proposal was defeated 198-194.

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Thursday, April 29, 2010

Noah's Ark discovered. Again. - CSMonitor.com

An artist's depiction of Noah's Ark, the vessel that, according to the Bible, rescued Noah, his family, and a pair of each of the world's animal species from a sudden rise in global sea levels. Biblical literalists have long sought to find physical evidence of the ark.

Yeung Wing-Cheung says he and a team from Noah's Ark Ministries found the remains of the Ark at an elevation of about 12,000 feet (3,658 meters). They filmed inside the structure and took wood samples that were later analyzed in Iran. He claims the wood was carbon-dated to around the reputed time of Noah's flood, which would be remarkable since organic material should have long since disintegrated in the last 5,000 years.

Yeung said that he is "99 percent certain that it is Noah's Ark based on historical accounts, including the Bible and local beliefs of the people in the area, as well as carbon dating."