Puerto Rico Status Archives Dashboard
The Puerto Rico Status Archives Project (PRSAP) is an effort to create a public archive or repository documenting the history of the federal legislation debated in Congress about Puerto Rico’s territorial political status. This archive collects all relevant federal bills, laws and legislation debated in Congress since 1899 or the 56th Congress. It is presently designed to be a work in progress. All suggestions are welcomed.
Because this is a digital project, one of the goals of this project is to create a public forum where viewers can comment, criticize and offer suggestions for improving this repository. Our goal is to create an accessible resource that can assist anyone interested in better understanding the federal history of debates over Puerto Rico’s political status.
Historical Overview
The Historical Overview section is organized in six historical periods. Each period’s narrative provides a background summary or overview of key political debates that informed the lawmakers proposing legislation. These are not exhaustive but are meant to provide a key overview of some of the core political issues informing the relevant congressional debates. Each narrative also highlights some key features of legislation that explicitly addresses the question of Puerto Rico’s political status.
Congressional Legislation
The Congressional Legislation is a repository of all bills addressing the status of Puerto Rico debated in Congress since 1899 or the 56th Congress. Presently, this archive contains 153+ bills and laws that explicitly or implicitly raise the question of Puerto Rico’s political status within the U.S. Empire. These laws were identified by going through the indexes of each Congressional Record since the 56th Congress. Because this project is a work-in-progress, our intention is to build it in phases. The next phase will incorporate the legislative histories of each bill as well as other educational resources. Related documents are also housed in this archive.
Data Hub
The Data Hub is a section that focuses on empirical analysis of this history. My goal is to create a useful source of analysis that can guide researchers, law related professionals, and policymaker. This section will include a Data Dashboard and some other forms of data and analysis. We can also work with scholars to develop short reports on the available data.
In Summary
Again, like all digital projects of this nature, this is a dynamic work-in-progress. Our goal is to keep adding documents that can eventually make this site the key repository of political status materials for understanding the history of the political status debates about Puerto Rico.
This digital archive is part of the University of Connecticut’s Puerto Rican Studies Initiative for Community Engagement and Public Policy (PRSI). This is a research initiative seeking to document and support Puerto Ricans’ vital economic, intellectual, and cultural contributions to Connecticut and to provide research-based support for the development of public policies addressing the needs of Puerto Ricans in the State of Connecticut