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Para ver este documento en español, oprima aquí. House And Senate Leaders File Bill To Enable Presidential VoteGore Collects $353,000 In Puerto RicoHUD Awards Four Recognitions To Sor Isolina Ferre CentersRemarks Delivered By The Honorable Pedro Rossello,Governor of Puerto Rico Before The 2000 Democratic National ConventionWhite House Works To Avoid Obstacles In Vieques Land TransferOffice Of Professional Responsibility To Investigate GilHouse And Senate Leaders File Bill To Enable Presidential Vote By Proviana Colon Diaz August 11, 2000 SAN JUAN — 08/11/00 - Senate President Charlie Rodriguez and House Speaker Edison Misla Aldarondo filed on Friday a joint bill to enable the presidential vote for Puerto Ricans in the upcoming Nov. 7 general elections. Public hearings will be held on the bill during an extraordinary joint session scheduled for Aug. 21-25. The bill was filed following a July 19 ruling by U.S. District Court Senior Judge Jaime Pieras that U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico cannot be denied the right to vote for president. It also was filed the same week that the U.S. Department of Justice filed a 34-page motion before Pieras, asking him not to order the U.S. to name any Puerto Ricans to the electoral colleges that elect the president. If Pieras' ruling is revoked, the bill will then be null, the lawmakers acknowledged. However, Rodriguez said that possibility was remote. Pieras' decision varies from prior decisions that U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico cannot vote in presidential elections because Puerto Rico is not a state. "We can't act according to what might happen, we need to act based on the current law," said Rodriguez, adding that he believes the U.S. Congress will choose to count the votes issued. If approved and signed into law, the bill establishes that the votes issued by Puerto Rico will be converted into one electoral vote for each of the eight senatorial district of the island. In addition, each presidential candidate - Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore - will be able to receive eight electoral votes. The electoral votes, the first ones to be voted on in the island, will be sealed and sent to Washington, D.C., where preliminary results will be issued in 72 hours. The final results, however, will not be issued after the general count. Votes of the Puerto Rico electoral college, as well as those across the U.S., would be counted at Capitol Hill on the Monday after the second Wednesday of December, in accordance to federal electoral law. ******* Gore Collects $353,000 In Puerto Rico By Greg Hitt and Bob Davis August 14, 2000 LOS ANGELES — [T]he donors Mr. Gore has put together make up a powerful group. Consider the following, who have…become big shareholders in Gore Inc. and stand to play a role in shaping a Gore administration: Puerto Rico: The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has become a rich vein of support for Mr. Gore. Gov. Pedro Rossello has himself raised at least $100,000 for the vice president, according to the Gore campaign, and the Puerto Rican press has been filled with speculation that Mr. Rossello may be due a cabinet post for his efforts. Overall, $353,000 has flowed from Puerto Rico into the Gore campaign and the DNC. In return, Gov. Rossello would like statehood. The Clinton-Gore administration has been supportive of, at a minimum, allowing a local vote on self-determination. There are also some more immediate issues on the table, such as efforts to boost U.S. business investment in the onetime Spanish colony. Mr. Rossello's former chief of staff is now a Washington-based lawyer at Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson & Hand, and the firm is leading lobbying efforts in Washington to expand wage-based tax credits for U.S. firms doing business in the territory. The tax breaks were curbed by Congress in 1996 and will soon expire altogether. Puerto Rican officials say the changes went too far, and they maintain that the island territory is losing business to other Caribbean-basin countries. "These are jobs that will be forever lost," says Xavier Romeu, Puerto Rico's secretary of commerce. "This is good for the United States." ******* HUD Awards Four Recognitions To Sor Isolina Ferre Centers August 14, 2000 SAN JUAN (AP) - Almost two weeks after the death of Sor Isolina Ferre, the centers named after her received four awards from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), including one titled "Best of the Best," officials announced Monday. The awards were received this week by Allan Cintron and Delia Ramos, who represented the centers at the symposium sponsored by HUD in Washington, D.C., titled "Best Practices in 2000." For the "Best of the Best" prize, the centers competed with another 100 projects throughout the U.S. Sor Isolina, 85, died recently after a prolonged illness. She dedicated her life to helping those in need, especially through her centers aimed at rescuing delinquent youths. ******* Remarks Delivered By The Honorable Pedro Rossello,Governor of Puerto Rico Before The 2000 Democratic National Convention Los Angeles, CA August 15, 2000 My Fellow Democrats: Our nation has been the chief apostle of democracy in the world and we must therefore lead by example. But we have unfinished business of democracy here at home. Puerto Rico has been under U.S. soverienty for over a century, and Puerto Ricans have been natural born citizens since 1917, but the island's 3.9 million residents still do not have voting representation in their national government. Al Gore is committed to work with Congress to clarify the options that will allow the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico to choose a permanent fully democratic status. America will become much more diverse in the new century. In the years to come, we will celebrate our rich diversity and focus on strenghtening the common values and beliefs that make us one America -- one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Fellow Democrats: We can accomplish all of this with the leadership and commitment of Al Gore as the next president of the United States of America. But some will question whether all this will be done. To this we answer. Se puede!! Claro que se puede!! Ganamos con Gore!!! ******* White House Works To Avoid Obstacles In Vieques Land Transfer August 16, 2000 SAN JUAN (AP) - White House Deputy Chief of Staff Maria Echaveste said the White House is working to prevent Republican members of Congress and some Democrats from obstructing the Vieques western land transfer to Puerto Rico. "At this moment we have the support of Congress to guarantee that the land be transferred to the people of Vieques. But we also have to ensure that the Republicans and some Democrats don't find a way to halt the land transfer. So we have a battle in Congress," Echaveste said in published reports. Echaveste, who has been working with the Vieques negotiations, hopes that the land transfer will be approved this year, but if that doesn't happen, she said Democrat presidential candidate Al Gore is committed to the Vieques directives issued by President Bill Clinton. ******* Office Of Professional Responsibility To Investigate Gil August 18, 2000 SAN JUAN (AP) - U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno referred to the Office of Professional Responsibility the investigation of the complaint that Gov. Pedro Rossello filed Sunday against Puerto Rico U.S. Attorney Guillermo Gil, officials said Wednesday. If at the end of the process, which could last months, Reno determines that Gil incurred in conduct that could affect the general elections in Puerto Rico - violating federal and state norms, as alleged by Rossello - Gil could be removed from his post, Reno spokesman John Russell said in published reports.
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