Americans In The Territories We welcome greater participation in all aspects of the political process by Americans residing in Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas, and Puerto Rico. Since no single approach can meet the needs
of those diverse communities, we emphasize respect for their wishes regarding
their relationship to the rest of the Union. We affirm their right to seek the full
extension of the Constitution, with all the rights and responsibilities it
entails.
We support the Native American
Samoans’ efforts to preserve their culture and land-tenure system, which fosters
self-reliance and strong extended-family values.
We support increased local
self-government for the United States citizens of the Virgin Islands, and closer
cooperation between the local and federal governments to promote private
sector-led development and self-sufficiency.
We recognize that Guam is a
strategically vital U.S. territory in the far western Pacific, an American
fortress in the Asian region. We affirm
our support for the patriotic U.S. citizens of Guam to achieve greater local
self-government, an improved federal-territorial relationship, new economic
development strategies, and continued self-determination as desired with respect
to political status.
We support the right of the United
States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign
state after they freely so determine. We
recognize that Congress has the final authority to define the constitutionally
valid options for Puerto Rico to achieve a permanent status with government by
consent and full enfranchisement. As
long as Puerto Rico is not a State, however, the will of its people regarding
their political status should be ascertained by means of a general right of
referendum or specific referenda sponsored by the United States
government.
| 
