Dick Thornburgh
Dick Thornburgh
Richard Lewis "Dick" Thornburghis an American lawyer and Republican politician who served as the 41st Governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987, and then as the U.S. Attorney General from 1988 to 1991...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth16 July 1932
CountryUnited States of America
issues people empowering
Instead of generating either unnecessary alarm or a false sense of security regarding these fundamental issues, the best course is to empower people with the truth.
jobs self empowering
If Congress does its job in this regard, the residents of Puerto Rico will be empowered to act in their own self-interest and express their future political status aspirations accordingly.
experience needs resolution
The need for a permanent status resolution approved by Congress is made even more clear to me because of my experience as a former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
organization territory ranking
As the highest ranking American official in the United Nations organization, I came to understand thoroughly that the national constitutional processes of the member states define the status of territories under their sovereignty.
optimism want should
That is why, with optimism instead of fear, all those who want to see Puerto Rico's status resolved should seek the truth about each option, including the upside and the downside of each.
law government states
However, the sovereignty of the states is constitutionally defined and recognized, while the powers of the local government in Puerto Rico are defined by, and subject to alteration under, federal statutory law.
pay corporations income
Yet, individuals and corporations in Puerto Rico pay no federal income tax.
block express people puerto
Now that the there is a path for the people of Puerto Rico to express their self-determination on Puerto Rico's political status, there are some who seek to block that path.
chasing favorite fools-and-foolishness leaks
Chasing down leaks is a favorite sport in Washington. Generally, it's a fool's errand,
amendment national permanent powers puerto state
If U.S. national sovereignty continues, it is only as a state that Puerto Rico will have permanent 10th Amendment powers over its non-federal affairs, as well as voting power in Congress.
changed consider court days deadline extending florida hand law legal question six supreme whether
The question they are going to consider is whether the Florida Supreme Court changed the law enacted by the Florida Legislature by arbitrarily extending the deadline for hand recounts by six days over what the Legislature had provided. That's a pretty meaty constitutional and legal question.
affairs consent derive federal governed government otherwise powers unless
The powers of government exercised locally derive from a federal law authorizing government by consent in local affairs only, unless those affairs are otherwise governed by federal law.
apparently clear constitution local people provided puerto schedule status tired tools
Apparently tired of waiting for clear direction from Congress, the people of Puerto Rico have used the tools provided by their own local constitution to schedule a vote for Dec. 13 on the status of the island.
arrest customs island nation national puerto rest state system territory though
Yet, Puerto Rico's economic convergence and political integration with the rest of the nation is in a state of arrest - even though the island has been within the national borders, political system and customs territory of the U.S. for a century.