STATEMENT OF HON. LUIS MUSi0Z MARIN, GOVERNOR OF PUERTO RICO Mr. Mufor Manin. ‘Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Tam very gratoful for the opportunity, and 1 will be brief. I want to vay that 1 speak not aa Governor of Puerto Rico—and not even as a Fuerte Ricnn—but. rathor, on this occasion, aan citizen of the United States, _ As such, J am fully in favor of the legislution—the propored leg- ixtntion to give the Jistrict. of Columbin not. only the right to vote in Federal elections, but a right such as contained in the Senate bill to olect delegates to Congress that. then shall have those powers in the Toure asthe Congreess itself will ansign to them, I had been very interested in the proporal made by some of the member, which I certainly fully agree with, that the same principle should be extended to all citizens of the United Stutea living any- where under the American flag, to vote in the presidentin] elections, and to elect delegates to Congress that would © we such powers as the Congress iteelf might grant tothem. The Ciaran. Governor, you have a Resident Commissioner now inthe House of Representatives t Mr. MoRoz Marin. That's right. The Curamman. Nonvoting! Mr. MoXoz Marin, That’s right. . The Cuairman. The people of Puerto Rico—the citizens of Puerto Rico—do not have the right to vote for presidential elections? Mr. MoSoz Marin. Not in presidential elections. We have no problem of home rule. The Commonwealth of Peutro Rico haa com- plete internal home rule, so that is no problem in Puerto Rico. Mr. McCutsocn. Mr, Chairman, I have a question. / Whit is the latest estimate of the population of Puerto Rico? Mr. Mustoz Marin. 2,800,000. . oo. Mr. ‘McCutvocu. tt is the population of the District of lumbia t The Ciatratan. 800-odd thousand.22 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA REPRESENTATION AND VOTE ¢ iw. T would say, Mr. Chu citizen of the al States und speaking an xteh, tut nity ry citizen of the U ¥ Jet they ave not living in a foreign country, the right to pute in the election of the President of the United States and President, Id say that a ion, if they represent a community of American citizens that pay Federal taxes fully, and they should not have the right to vote on taxes if they nt_a community of Ameriean citizens, such as the Common: Ith of Puerto Rico, that does not pay taxes into the Federal ney, Roaxas, In that regard, Governor, you have a certain provision your Commonwealth which permits you to make certain con- ns as relate to taxes: do you not? Mr, MvSoz Manix. We have fiscal nutonomy—meening we can pass laws regarding local taxes with complete freedom, Mr. Roaras. Don't you ulso enjoy a certain privilege in relation to ies tosor Manin. We bi ki ir, MuSoz Manin. We pay—basically speaking, we pay no income taxes into the Federal Treasury. We just. exervie Gir Light oFer local taxation. In exercising our power of local taxation, we decide to exempt certain industries for a number of yeara in order to stimu- Inte—ns we have been stimulating very rapidly—the industrial growth of the Commonvealth, Mr, Rooeas, Would this immunity from the so-called Federal in- come tax vanish if ze ‘were permitted to vote for President? Mr, McSoz Marin. Certainly not. That is precisely what I am try to— Mit, Hoctzarax, Would the gentleman yield? I think the Governor has said that with respect to these taxes he would want his Commissioner or his representative precluded from participating in such a vote so that there would be no conflict. Is that so Mr, MuSoz Marin. It would be fair that the delegates from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to the Congress do not vote on taxa- tion, since their constituents are not called upon to pay such taxes. On the other hand, it would be fair for the delegates from the District of Columbia to vote on taxation, too. The Cuammman. Governor, I want to make this comment, and I will be very frank with you. ‘According to your theory, all citizens should have the right to vote for presidential electors. “That means citizens on the Samoa Island territory, the island of Guam, a territory, the island of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth, Virgin Islands and Wake Island, would all have the right to vote in presidential elections. I assure you, if we put anything at all in this bill, the bill will never get off the ground and will die aborning. . . ‘We have to approach these matters piecemenl. It in unfortunte, but. if we want any action we cannot consider your Proposition. Texpress that right at the outset. I deeply sympathize with what you are saying, and perhaps we can get to your proposition & little later on.DIBTRICT OF COLUMBIA REPRESENTATION AND VOTE 23 _ Mr. MvSox Mamix. 1am just expressing my support of tye pein: viple involved in this matter, [think that American citizens arn should have the right to vote for President. The American citizens of the Virgin Txtands should have the right to vote for President. However, [ realize. The Craimstay. You appreciate that gives rise to all kinds of com- ics and difficulties. fuser Manix. Twonldn’t propose, at this time, that the present leginlution before your committee be amended to include the Common- wealth of Puerto Rico, or others, because I know it would just intro- sluce a new element at this date and endanger its approval. “Since you so kindly invited me—with my general interest in this problem, since you so kindly invited me to express myself here, I have been very happy and grateful for the opportunity of snying that this would solve one of the unsolved foblens in. the U.S. Federal system: the problem of having some American citizens precluded from voting for President of the United States. oe . You see, the principle of no taxation without representation is not involved, since the President of the United States does not impose taxes. ., Phe Cuatean, Let that be our goal. We don’t have to approach it im ‘iately and all at once. Thank you very much, Governor. . Mr. McSoz Marfx. Thank we very much, Mr. Chairman. The Cuamman. We always like to have you with us. Our next witness is our siptin gained Representative from the State of Virginia, Mr. Joel T, Broyhill.