Remarks by the!

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Hon. Jos Enrique Melndez-Ortiz!
Representative at Large! Puerto Rico House of Representatives!

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The League of United Latin American Citizens!

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Workshop:!

Our Civil Rights: Learn How to Advocate for Yourself!

LULAC's 84th Annual National Convention!

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Caesars Palace ! Las Vegas, Nevada! June 21, 2013!

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First, I would like to thank Margaret Moran, LULACs National President, for her kind invitation to appear before you today. Unfortunately I had to miss the first days of this exciting convention to attend sessions at a critical juncture when the state budget is still being discussed as the legislative calendar is quickly coming to an end.!

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Every day Latinos face issues with employers, as well as state and local government officials, that either are outright civil rights violations or involve discriminatory perceptions and attitudes.!

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Providing an answer to the question of how to best be an advocate in these situations can be answered by asking yourself another question: how may I best frame the problem or issue that I am facing as an individual citizen in the context of the quest of Latinos to be recognized, and treated equally, as Americans.!

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The reason why this latter question is important is that when a problem you are facing is perceived as one that is typically faced by Latinos when an attack on your rights is seen as an attack on all Latinos your issue is more likely to have political
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repercussions and, as a result, more likely to get resolved in your favor.!

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You need to make your individual interest a common interest. How do you do that? Connect Contact Communicate.!

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Reach out to your neighbors, colleagues, co-workers, and friends. Find-out if they are facing issues and situations that are similar to yours. Establish connections with professional, community, and citizen organizations. Find the LULAC Councils in your area and reach-out to them.!

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Contact your elected officials at every level of government. But dont forget to contact the challenger candidates. Competition is good not only in the marketplace but also in politics. Sometimes those in office get complacent and challenger candidates show more of an interest in making your individual issue or problem into a public issue that will get resolved. !

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That is how I got elected. I became a voice for those who did not have one and an advocate for the concerns of citizens when elected officials were distracted with other concerns.!

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Communicate. Participate in call-in radio programs, write letters to the editor, send tweets, create a Facebook page You know what? Social media is powerful but I cannot underscore enough how powerful social media is as an advocacy tool. I use social media every day.!

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Do you know what gives a great platform to communicate? Running for office. It does not matter if you do not get elected. What you have to say will be heard. And the outcome may surprise you. You will often find that when you do things out of principle, not minding an ulterior objective, life puts you were you need to be.!

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And by all means, find opportunities to tell your story at events and make it relevant to your audience. You do not need to be a panelist at a workshop to speak before an audience. If there is a question-and-answer session, stand-up and ask a question.!

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Needless to say, I never pass-up the opportunity to speak on behalf of my constituents and today will not be the exception.!

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Often the question of Puerto Ricos political status which deprives the residents of the Island of the most basic political
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rights as American citizens is portrayed as an issue that the residents of Puerto Rico must decide by and for themselves obscuring the roots and true nature of the problem. Many times I have encountered an attitude that can best be described with the expression its your problem. I dont agree!

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The political disenfranchisement of a community of 3.7 million Latinos is a national problem and a Latino issue.!

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At the heart of Puerto Ricos political status issue is that the American citizens residing in the Island are perceived as foreigners rather than Americans. This is a problem that the residents of Puerto Rico share with the rest of the Latino community in the United States.!

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Unfortunately, too many in the United States associate anything Latino with being foreign. Karl Rove recognized this and once stated before the National Council of La Raza that the debate over immigration reform had "clouded the views of some people in America and led them to fail to understand that Hispanics, and all immigrants, are real Americans."!

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Clearly, the forces that oppose comprehensive immigration reform are the same forces that stand against the admission of Puerto Rico as a State of the Union. As Latinos, we must stand together because we have a common cause: becoming recognized as part of "We the People of the United States" despite our ethnic origin or speaking English with an accent.!

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But the issue of Puerto Ricos unequal political status goes beyond perception. It has deep historical roots.!

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In 1922 the U.S. Supreme Court decided an obscure case called Balzac v. People of Porto Rico in which it decided that Puerto Rico is an "unincorporated" territory a possession that is separate from, rather than a part of, the United States and therefore not meant to become a State.!

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As unthinkable as it may seem today, the application of the Constitution to Puerto Rico was decided on the basis of the race or ethnic origin of its inhabitants. But the worst thing is that the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Balzac is still good law today.!

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It was generally understood that Puerto Rico had been incorporated into the United States when in 1917 Congress
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granted American citizenship of the residents of the Island. After all, how a person become an American citizen by birth in the soil of any country but that of the United States? Isn't it obvious, right?!

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Apparently, not obvious enough to the Justices of the Supreme Court, back then. In Balzac the Supreme Court decided that an American citizen residing in Puerto Rico did not have the right of trial by jury under the Sixth Amendment because Congress could not have had the intention of incorporating into the Union these distant ocean communities of a different origin and language from those of our continental people." What was the Supreme Court referring to? In the case of Puerto Rico, Spanish language and Latino origin.!

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But the Supreme Court was also making reference to the Philippines. Ironically, Congress granted American citizenship to the inhabitants of Puerto Rico after having put the Philippines on its way to independence. But what mattered to the Supreme Court was not that Puerto Ricans were American citizens but that they were Latinos.!

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This is offensive to me not only as Latino but as also as conservative Republican. In disavowing Congress and departing
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from the precedents of Louisiana and Alaska, in which granting American citizenship to its inhabitants resulted in incorporation, the Supreme Court legislated from the bench and created a category of territories that appears nowhere in the Constitution. The People of the United States did not give the Supreme Court the authority to rewrite the Constitution only to interpret it.!

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Not only Latinos but all Americans should be offended by this decision because we are in the face of racial prejudice. The opinion of the Supreme Court in Balzac was written by Chief Justice Taft who had been Governor of the Philippines. He had referred to the Filipinos as our "little brown brothers" and as governor he reported to President McKinley that they would need "fifty or one hundred years" of close supervision "to develop anything resembling Anglo-Saxon political principles and skills."!

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Balzac is to Latinos especially to the residents of Puerto Rico what Plessy v. Ferguson was to African Americans. Plessy was overturned by Brown v. Board of Education but the American citizens of Puerto Rico are still subject to segregation.!

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This is unpleasant but lets not beat around the bush; Puerto Ricos non-incorporation is Latino segregation. And it is the
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responsibility of all Americans who value their Constitution and understand American citizenship as a source of equal rights to bring territorial non-incorporation to an end once and for all.!

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Puerto Rico deserves to be admitted as a State. Its residents overwhelmingly voted for statehood in a plebiscite last November and thousands of Puerto Rico veterans have already paid the full price of admission too many with their lives. But what the Nation owes to itself is to put an end to the disgraceful category of unincorporated territory. At the very least, Congress should give the residents of Puerto Rico a choice between having the full rights of their American citizenship with statehood or the dignity of pursuing their own destiny separately from the United States with their own national citizenship.!

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Hopefully what is said in Vegas does not stay in Vegas because we need you to help us carry this message across the Nation. I will certainly help to carry yours. As I travel to Washington as an advocate for the civil rights of the American citizens of Puerto Rico I also carry the message of Latino empowerment and the need to approve a comprehensive immigration reform. A true reform, a real comprehensive immigration reform that would

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include a path to citizenship. And let me tell you, we are almost there. !

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For many years LULAC has been pushing the political apparatus in Washington, DC, in order to protect and promote the rights, liberties and opportunities of every Hispanic in America. The struggle and debate for equality, immigration and a path to citizenship, for every immigrant living in the States, is finally working its way into the halls of the United States Capitol. But the struggle for equality will never be completed until the voice of every Latino is not only heard, but also respected.!

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Your participation in this workshop is a step in the right direction, because LULAC is leading the way on the tremendous fight for Latino civil rights in America.! ! Thank you for your attention. Advocacy is the means to empowerment and this is what we want for all Latinos. I have been an advocate as an attorney, a candidate, a state representative, and as a member of LULAC. Your questions are welcome.!

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Thank you.
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