Compelling Policy Question: Should America's territories be treated differently than other parts of America?

Historical Context - S. 2264, “temporary civil government for Porto Rico.”

In 1493 Christopher Columbus makes Puerto Rico a Spanish Colony. Starting in 1868 Puerto Ricans started trying to rebel against Spanish Rule, known as Grito de Lares. When the Puerto Ricans were unsuccessful in their own rebellions, the leaders of their Revolutionary Party in 1898 decided to ask American President William McKinley and the United States Senate to include Puerto Rico in the intervention the Senate was planning for Cuba. In April of 1898 the U.S. declared war on Spain, and in July American troops land in Puerto Rico. By the end of August the United States had driven the Spanish from the island and was control. In December, the Treaty of Paris signed/February Treaty is ratified by Senate, giving the United States possession of Puerto Rico. From 1898 to 1900 the United States Military governs Puerto Rico. The military gives Puerto Rico freedom of assembly, speech, press, and religion. Public schools were opened and the U.S. Postal service was brought to the island. The name of the island was also changed to Porto Rico. In 1900 Sereno Payne (R)New York, and Joseph Foraker (R)Ohio introduce bills to Congress to official shape Porto Rico's government Foraker's bill is known as S. 2264.

Policy Case Study:

S. 2264, "To Provide a Government for Porto Rico, and for Other Purposes" (modified/link to original)

Section 3. All inhabitants of Porto Rico are now United States citizens.

Sec. 4. Porto Rico’s laws shall remain, unless they were changed by United States military orders, or conflict with America’s laws.

Sec. 8. Goods imported into Porto Rico from the United States will pay 15% of the tariff rate paid by goods from other countries.

Sec 10. Goods shipped from Porto Rico to the United States will only pay 15% of the tariff rate paid by goods from other countries. All the money collected shall be used to benefit Porto Rico.

Sec. 15. The Governor of Porto Rico shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Sec. 16. The President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, will appoint ten people to, along with the Governor, form an executive council. Five members must be natives of Porto Rico.

Sec. 25. That all local laws shall be made by the Legislative Assembly of Porto Rico. The Assembly will have two houses; one the executive council, and the other a house of delegates.

Sec. 28. To be a delegate, one must be 25, must read and write either Spanish or English, and must own property in Porto Rico.

Sec 29. All laws made by the assembly shall be reported to the United States Congress, which has the power to annul those laws.

Sec. 37. Every two years the qualified voters of Porto Rico shall choose one Delegate to the House of Representatives of the United States, who shall be entitled to a seat, but not to a vote, in that body.

Sec. 38. The President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, will create a three person commission to review the laws of Porto Rico. At least one member shall be a native citizen of Porto Rico. The laws may be changed in order to secure and extend the benefits of a republican form of government to all the inhabitants of Porto Rico

Section #1 Guiding Question: Why do some people believe American Territories should be treated differently than other parts of America?

In 1900, the Republican Senator from Ohio, Joseph Benson Foraker said in his speech to Congress introducing S.2264...

(modified/link to original)

Foraker was a member of the Senate Committee on Pacific Islands and Puerto Rico. He helped create S.2264. His biography

I want to start by saying that this bill is the most generous bill that has ever been proposed in Congress for any Territory of the United States since the beginning of our Government.

I call attention to the style of government this bill provides for Puerto Rico. The people of Puerto Rico have had no experience organizing the type of government they need. While the committee wanted to give them participation in government, they did not want to give them more than was safe to give them.

We need to raise a million dollars to build their government. The people of Puerto Rico, devastated from the last hurricane, can not stand a burden of direct taxes. Are people who today can not buy bread to be subjected to such a burden?

This bill is in the interest of the Puerto Ricans. I hope that some time in the course of human events the Congress of the United States will get done discussing constitutional questions and go to the relief of a starving people.

By using a tariff, we exempt them from the burden of a direct tax. We will raise revenues for their government in a manner that would rest more lightly upon them.

We are also going to do for Puerto Rico what has never before been done for the people of any Territory in the United States. Every dollar of the taxes the people of Puerto Rico pay will be used for benefit of the people of Puerto Rico.

Conversation between Joseph Benson Foraker (R)Ohio, John C. Spooner ()Wisconsin, and Jacob H. Gallinger (R)New Hampshire during Senate debate over S.2264, 1900 (modified/link to original)

Mr. FORAKER. The Spanish Government spent over $4,000,000 running the Porto Rico Government the last year of their rule.

Mr. SPOONER. And it was not a very good government, either.

Mr. FORAKER. It was a miserable government at that.

Mr. GALLINGER. If the Senator will permit me, he will remember that we are providing about a million dollars to build schoolhouses. And we are providing a million dollars to Build some roads for those people, which they never have had.

Mr. FORAKER. The Spaniards took over $4,000,000 in taxes from the Puerto Ricans per year. They did not spend it for schoolhouses. We have done more for education in that island since we have taken possession, than Spain did for education in three centuries.

The prosperity of that island requires, if we are to restore it, that there shall be large expenditures made in the near future. The best interests of the people require that those who are unemployed be given jobs. We estimate that a million dollars of this $3,000,000 should be spent building roads, bridges, etc. as a way to give Puerto Ricans jobs.

A Bright Business Outlook, The New York Times, July 28, 1898 (modified/link to original)

When in our history has the business outlook of the country been so conspicuously favoriable as at this moment? When has there been such a conjunction or fortunate influences of the first magnitude?

Then the National domain and the National wealth are about to be added to by the acquisition of Puerto Rico, a highly productive island 50,000 square miles in extent, with two and one-half millions of population, yielding coffee, sugar, fruits, nuts, and tobacco. It has an export and import trade worth $36,000,000 every year, and is capable under American management of increasing immensely in population, productiveness, and wealth.

In 1899, Puck Magazine published a cartoon by Louis Dalrymple titled "School Begins".

Library of Congress Summary

Caption: Uncle Sam (to his new class in Civilization) "Now, children, you've got to learn these lessons whether you want to or not! But just take a look at the class ahead of you, and remember that, in a little while, you will feel as glad to be here as they are!"

Summary:

Uncle Sam as a teacher, standing behind a desk in front of his new students who are labeled "Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii, [and] Philippines"; they do not look happy to be there. At the rear of the classroom are students holding books labeled "California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, [and] Alaska". At the far left, an African American boy cleans the windows, and in the background, a Native boy sits by himself, reading an upside-down book labeled "ABC", and a Chinese boy stands just outside the door. A book on Uncle Sam's desk is titled "U.S. First Lessons in Self-Government".

Charles Lewis Bartholomew created a cartoon titled "Will wear the stars and stripes" in 1898.

"Well, I hardly know which to take first!" was a cartoon ran by the Boston Globe in 1898.

Udo J. Keppler had a cartoon titled "Our Christmas tree" published in1899 by Puck.

Library of Congress Summary: Print shows Uncle Sam and Columbia taking Christmas presents off a Christmas tree and distributing them to Native children labeled "Hawaii, Samoa, Puerto Rico, Cuba, [and] Philippine".

Puck published a cartoon by Louis Dalrymple titled "Uncle Sam's picnic" in 1900

Caption:

Old Party Ain't ye takin' too many in, Sam?

Uncle Sam No, Gran'pa; I reckon this team will be strong enough for them all!

Library of Congress Summary

Print shows Uncle Sam helping four little girls labeled "Philippines, Ladrones, Porto Rico, [and] Cuba" onto a wagon filled with many other young children, including "Hawaii"; two horses harnessed to the wagon are labeled "Liberty" and "Union". An old man, wearing a hat labeled "Monroe Doctrine", is sitting on a log nearby and asks Sam if the wagon isn't getting too full.

Homer Davenport, Puerto Rico in Chains, 1898

In 1900, the artist J.S. Pughe's cartoon "Declined with thanks" was published by Puck.

Caption below the cartoon reads:

The Antis.- Here, take a dose of this anti-fat and get slim again!

Uncle Sam No, Sonny!, I never did take any of that stuff, and I'm too old to begin!

Library of Congress Summary: a huge Uncle Sam getting a new outfit made at the "McKinley and Company National Tailors" with President McKinley taking the measurements. Carl Schurz, Joseph Pulitzer, and Oswald Ottendorfer stand inside the entrance to the shop and Schurz is offering Uncle Sam a spoonful of "Anti-Expansion Policy" medicine, a bottle of which each is carrying. On the right are bolts of cloth labeled "Enlightened Foreign Policy" and "Rational Expansion." The stripes on Uncle Sam's trousers are labeled "Texas, Louisiana Purchase, Alaska, Florida, California, Hawaii, [and] Porto Rico."

Section #2: : Why do some people believe American Territories should not be treated differently than other parts of America?

In 1899, a Puerto Rican politician named Muñoz Rivera wrote a letter to the Liberal Party of Puerto Rico. In his letter he said...

(modified/link to original)

Rivera was a leader of the liberal party in Puerto Rico, but resigned as secretary of the Puerto Rican government when the United States took over the Government of Puerto Rico after Spain left.

The Liberals of this country's mission is to help Puerto Rico. This includes fighting tyranny and threats of insulting despotism.

The American National Anthem says, "This flag floats over the land of the free." If the American Government upholds the great principle of human right on the continent, it would be unfair to this tropical island, where we happily welcomed America, to destroy these rights under the flag’s shadow.

I left the Government because the personality of our Puerto Rico was completely ignored. Puerto Rico should maintain its self-government, like we had under Spain. To snatch from us what we had without giving us something equal or better is an offense against our people.

Our search for a remedy should not be in Puerto Rico, but in Washington. From there fair treatment must be found, so that the United States can be on this island, what they are on the Continent- great, generous, and just. Puerto Rico should be a brother in the family and not a slave of the family.

We ask for the President, the Congress, the press, and the public, to not allow the enslavement of the whites after spilling so much blood to prevent the enslavement of the blacks.

Tulio Larrinaga, Testimony to the Senate Committee on Pacific Islands and Puerto Rico during the hearings for S.2264, 1900 (modified/link to original)

The Chairman. What would be the effect if the island has free trade?

Mr. Larrinaga. Production of goods will increase. The hope of getting free trade and the confidence we have had in the sense of right and justice of the American people have already increased it.

The Chairman. What kind of a government do you think we ought to provide for the island of Puerto Rico?

Mr. Larrinaga. Nothing except a Territorial government will fully satisfy the people of the island.

Mr. Nelson. What would you think of a legislature with a upper house appointed by the President, and a lower house elected by the people?

Mr Larrinaga. It would be a great disappointment if we can’t elect both.

Mr. Perkins. Would the people be satisfied if we should give them half free trade and half property taxes?

Mr. Larrinaga. They will accept whatever will come from the United States, provided it showed the way to justice and right.

The Chairman. The people of Puerto Rico want to vote and elect someone?

Mr. Larrinaga. Yes, sir; if the American Government sees fit to give it, but as to having no suffrage, they do not wish that at all.

During his 1900 testimony to the Senate Committee on Pacific Islands and Puerto Rico during the hearings on S.2264, the Puerto Rican lawyer, Enrique Gonzalez said...

(modified/link to original)

Gonzales was a Puerto Rican lawyer, an agriculturalist, and a raiser of cattle, sugar, and coffee. He was also vice-president of the sugar association. He was elected to the Spanish Cortes from 1895 to 1897.

The CHAIRMAN. How would free trade impact Puerto Rico?

Mr. GONZALEZ. Free trade for Puerto Rico would help the farmers, and relieve the poverty among the poor classes.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you think we would be safe now in establishing civil government in Puerto Rico and providing for a legislative assembly? And, would all the people of Puerto Rico expect that they will be given this participation in government?

Mr. GONZALEZ. I would think that an admirable idea. And, yes, sir; with very few exceptions. The majority are in favor of that.

We shall now take the liberty, gentlemen, of recommending to you steps we think should be taken to save our island.

First. The establishment of a Territorial form of government for Puerto Rico, giving full self-government to its inhabitants.

Second. The use of United States tariff laws in Puerto Rico.

Third. A loan for sixteen millions of dollars, to be applied in the construction of public works, namely, roads and schoolhouses, and the assistance of the insular and municipal treasuries,

Fourth. A loan of $1,500,000 from the National Treasury, to be used by the insular government to help farmers on Puerto Rico.

President McKinley, Message to Congress, December 5, 1899 (modified/link to original)

Since the Treaty with Spain gave us Puerto Rico, she has lost the free trade she had with Spain and Cuba. Our duty is to abolish all customs tariffs between the United States and Puerto Rico and give her products free access to our markets.

The hurricane in Puerto Rico in August, reduced over 100,000 people to absolute destitution, without homes, and deprived of the necessaries of life. In addition to the private charity of our people, the War Department has spent $392,342.63 to help the distressed.

I recommend that Congress pass a law for the organization of a temporary government. The President should appoint a governor and other officers to run the island’s government. In the cities I recommend we allow local self-government. This will allow the citizens of the island to learn the duties of self-government. It is not wise to let the people select all of their government leaders, because they lack the experience necessary to exercise self-government.

The fundamental requirement for these people, as for all people, is education. Free schools are the best teacher for citizenship. The systems of education should work to the future moral and industrial advancement of the people to help them enjoy the blessings of free government.

Edmund W. Pettus (D)Alabama, Speech on H.R. 8245 “to Provide revenues for the relief of the island of Puerto Rico”, 1900 (modified/link to original)

Mr. Pettus' biography

In the Bible Job said, “When I looked for good, evil came”. Every hopeful patriot might use the words of Job when he sees this proposed legislation for the government of Puerto Rico.

The President of the United States in his message to Congress asked we make laws that give justice to the new citizens of the United States in Puerto Rico. He said that there should be no tariff on goods coming to us from Puerto Rico, or going there from here.

When you pass this bill without doing justice to the people of Puerto Rico as the President asked, the cartoon in one of the papers of this city becomes true. It represented a small barefoot boy lying on the ground, and an enormous elephant standing on him. The boy was “Puerto Rico,” and the elephant was labeled “Grand Old Party.” The elephant’s head was hanging down ashamed.

Your goal is to make the people on the island useful and patriotic citizens. You know that such citizens can never be produced by unfair laws.

This bill violates the Constitution of the United States. This bill levies a tariff tax on goods imported into Puerto Rico from the United States; and also on goods imported from Puerto Rico into the United States. Yet the Constitution declares duties must be the same throughout the United States. No State is to be treated differently than another. Senators, I beg you not to change the Constitution by act of Congress.

John C. Spooner (R)Wisconsin, Speech to Senate on H.R.8245, 1900 (modified/link to original)

The Porto Rican Inhumanity, The Nation Magazine, 1900. (modified/link to original)

The humane people of the United States need to be warned that the Republicans in Congress are planning to commit an act of shameful cruelty. We refer to the bill taxing Porto Rican exports and imports 25% of the Dingley rate. This bill is cruel, heartless, and full of disaster and starvation for 900,000 human beings.

The President himself has cried out for freedom of trade with this country. The inhabitants had free trade with Spain and Cuba. We destroyed that. The hurricane that devastated the island was “an act of God." What can we call our plan to prevent the Porto Ricans from living by honest labor but an act of the devil?

To make them pay one-quarter the Dingley rates on food would be evil. The island imports most of its food products. This plan will tax them for the food they must have or starve. We might as well turn our soldiers loose in the island to butcher the inhabitants as to decree their death by act of Congress.

Here are 900,000 fellow-men; if not fellow-citizens, they are at least our subjects. This bill takes away the right of nearly a million men under our flag to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Will McKinley now sit idly by and see a protective tariff made an instrument of torture for men and women and children under the American flag? If the American people do not want the blood of Porto Ricans or Cubans or Filipinos on their hands, they must let their representatives in Washington know what they think of this attempt to make the United States known as greedy and cruel.

William Sullivan (D)Mississippi, Question asked to Mr. Foraker during the Senate Debate over S.2264, 1900 (modified/link to original)

I should like to ask one question.

How can it be for the benefit of the Puerto Ricans to lay a tax upon them, either an internal-revenue tax or this duty on products shipped there, if the money is to be returned to them, if when returned it is just the amount taken from them minus the cost of collecting the taxes?

How can that benefit them?

Puck Magazine published a cartoon by Louis Dalrymple titled "The ill-fated sister;-- a case of unjust discrimination" in the year 1900.

Library of Congress Summary:Illustration showing President McKinley driving a carriage labeled "Free Trade", with passengers Uncle Sam and a woman labeled "Hawaii"; standing on the right is a woman labeled "Porto Rico", holding a basket of fruit, and looking forlornly at the carriage as it passes. Lying in the dust are papers that state: "McKinley's message to Congress. 'Our Plain Duty' &c."

What were the results of the debate, and what have been the consequences?

After some amendments, S. 2264 passed and on April 2, 1900 - President McKinley signs an amended version of S.2264 into law. The law is known as both the Foraker Act, and the Organic Act of 1900 (Organic is the term used to describe a law that creates a new American territory).

While the Foraker Act still included the Tariffs created in S.2264, one of the biggest differences between the bill and the law was about the citizenship status of Puerto Ricans. Under S.2264, all people living in Porto Rico would become citizens of the United States. Under the Foraker Act people living in Porto Rico became “citizens of Porto Rico as such entitled to the protection of the United States.” As a result, the Puerto Ricans were not given the same rights as American citizens.

The law created a limited representative government (Puerto Ricans elected part of their legislature, and a Resident Commissioner to a seat, but no vote in Congress, but the U.S. Government appointed their Governor, and the Executive Council of Puerto Rico). While the law could still be seen as an improvement over the American Military Government which was governing Puerto Rico after the Spanish had left, many Puerto Ricans were unhappy with the limitations on their rights.

1901- A a merchant, Samuel Downes, whose company that imported oranges into the port of New York from Puerto Rico, sued the Government arguing it was Unconstitutional for there to be a tariff on goods coming from Puerto Rico. In the Supreme Court Case Downes v. Bidwell, the Supreme Court ruled the Constitution does not completely apply to United States Territories.

1917 - President Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act (more commonly known as the Jones Act) into law. The law made changes to the form of Puerto Rico’s government under the Foraker Act. Puerto Rico was made an organized, but unincorporated, territory. One of the law’s most biggest supporters was Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner Luis Muñoz Rivera. Muñoz Rivera originally favored Puerto Rican independence, but eventually settled for changes to Puerto Rican Government. He pushed for Puerto Rico to be given more control over its own government.

In 1916, Rivera wrote; “Give us now the field of experiment which we ask of you, that we may show is it easy for us to constitute a stable republican government with all possibly guarantees for all possible interests. And afterward, when you acquire the certainty that you can find in Porto Rico a republic, give us our independence and you will stand before humanity as the greatest of the great, that which neither Greece nor Rome nor England ever were, a great creator of new nationalities and a great liberator of oppressed peoples.”

Luis Muñoz Rivera told America it could be a new kind of empire, one that, instead of dominating colonies, would help the territories it controlled eventually become their own Republics.

The Jones Act created a bill of rights, which extended many U.S. constitutional rights to Puerto Rico. Like much of the new empire, trial by jury was not included. The bill also created a more autonomous government with three branches, much like that of the United States. The Governor, Attorney-General, and Commissioner of Education were appointed by the United States president. The governor appointed the remaining heads of executive departments. The Puerto Ricans directly elected the members of a bicameral legislature, although Puerto Rican women, like most women in the United States, were not allowed to vote. Perhaps most importantly, the Jones Act revoked Puerto Rican citizenship and stated that all Puerto Ricans, “are hereby declared, and shall be deemed and held to be, citizens of the United States.”.

1922- Supreme Court case Balzac v. Porto Rico declares that Puerto Rico was a territory rather than a part of the Union. The decision stated that the U.S. constitution did not apply in Puerto Rico.

1922 Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rican Nationalist Party) is founded.

1932 the Congress of United States made a law to change back the name of the island Porto Rico, to its original name, Puerto Rico.

1937 At the beginning of Nacionalista de Puerto Rico Party parade, 20 people are killed and 100 people are wounded. This is called the "Masacre de Ponce"

1938 The Partido Popular Democratico (Democratic Popular Party) was founded, under the leadership of Luis Muñoz Marín, which adopted the slogan "Bread, Land, and Liberty." The party favored independence for the country.

1943 On April 2, U.S. Senator Tydings introduces bill to Congress calling for independence for Puerto Rico.

1947 On August 5th, United States Congress passed the Elective Governors Act, allowing Puerto Ricans to elect their own governor, President Harry Truman signed the act.

1948 June 10, the Puerto Rican legislature approved the infamous Law 53, known as "La Ley de la Mordaza" (Gag Law). The Ley de la Mordaza- it made it illegal to display a Puerto Rican flag, to sing a patriotic tune, to talk of independence, and of course to fight for the liberation of the island. It was also known as "the Little Smith Act" because it was patterned after a similar fascist law passed for the mainland.

1948 Statehood Republican Party was founded.

1950- On July 4, President Harry S. Truman signed what is known as Public Act 600, which allowed Puerto Ricans to draft their own constitution establishing the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The U.S. Congress had conferred commonwealth status on Puerto Rico and upgraded Puerto Rico's political status from protectorate to commonwealth.

1950- In October, Nationalists attempt to assassinate the governor. Guards resisted the attack, killing four of the five Nationalists.

1950- In November, two Puerto Ricans nationalist from New York, attempt to kill President Harry S. Truman in hopes of bringing their country closer to independence. One of the assailants and one White House policeman died.

1951- On July 4, the 600 Law is passed, giving Puerto Rico the right to establish a government with proper constitution.

1952- On March 3, the flag of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is officially adopted - based on a flag designed by a group of patriots in the year 1895.

1952- On July 25, the New Constitution is approved by voters in a referendum in March, and Puerto Rico is proclaimed as Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, although remained a territory of the United States. As a United States commonwealth, it is still treated by Congress as one of the last remaining colonies in the world. With the institution of Commonwealth status, US administrations were freed from the obligation of reporting on Puerto Rico's status to the UN Decolonization Committee.

1954 On March 1, Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire in the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five Congressmen. They are sentenced to 50 years imprisonment.

1967 On July 23, first direct vote of Puerto Rican electorate on the political status of Puerto Rico is held. Voters overwhelmingly affirm continuation of Commonwealth status.

Commonwealth

60%

Statehood

39%

Independence

1%

1967- On August 27, Partido Estadistas Unidos (United Statehooders Party) is founded by Luis A. Ferré, to campaign for statehood for Puerto Rico to become the fifty-first state in the Union in the 1967 plebiscite.

1968 On November 5, Luis A. Ferré, leader of a pro-statehood party, is elected governor, with 43.6% of the vote, becoming the first time a pro-statehood governor has received a majority. Ferré is elected governor under the slogan "Esto tiene que cambiar" ("This must change".)

1975 On January 24, a bomb set off in New York City, killed four and injured more than 50 persons. Puerto Rican nationalist group (FALN) claimed responsibility and police tied 13 other bombings to it.

1991 In an island wide vote, Puerto Ricans reject an amendment that would have "reviewed" their commonwealth status.

1993 In the Referendum, Commonwealth status is reaffirmed by voters.

• Statehood.......... 788,296 (46.3%)

• Commonwealth....... 826,326 (48.6%)

• Independence........ 75,620 ( 4.4%)

• Nulls............... 10,748 ( 0.7%)

1996 On July 25, the U.S. government recognized Puerto Rican citizenship. In, 1994, Juan Mari Bras renounced his U.S. citizenship. Puerto Rican citizenship was granted to Puerto Ricans by the US Congress in the 1900 Foraker Act, but later revoked by the Jones Act in 1917, Puerto Ricans are granted U.S. citizenship at birth.

Puerto Rican citizenship exists only as an equivalent to residency: Puerto Rican citizens are those US citizens who reside in Puerto Rico. Any US citizen can gain Puerto Rican citizenship after a year of residence on the island

1998 On December 13, In a non-binding referendum, which offered Puerto Rican voters will have five choices, which included:

(1) remaining a U.S. commonwealth,

(2) entering into a "free association" with the United States that would be somewhere between commonwealth and independence,

(3) becoming a state,

(4) declaring independence, and

(5) or none of the above.

The option 5 "none of the above" obtained the majority of votes.

2017 On June 11, a non-biding referendum on the political status of Puerto Rico was held, which offered Puerto Rican voters with three choices:

(1) becoming a state of the United States,

(2) independence/free association, or

(3) maintaining the current territorial status.

Although 97 percent of the ballots cast were in favor of statehood, turnout for the Puerto Rico referendum was really low, only 23 percent, where voter participation often averages around 80 percent.

In November 2020, another plebiscite was held, and 52% of voters voted in favor of Statehood (as of when I write this, they are still tabulating for the percent of voter turnout)

No Congressionally-mandated plebiscite has ever been held in Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans have voted on their political status in 1967, 1993, and 1998, 2012, and 2020