Speech #860018250

Organic Act of 1900. and sec. 6 of the Second Organic Act of 1917.) No Federal appropriations have ever been made to pay for the expenses of local government. as has been the case in the Territories. This refers. of course. to the government establishment of Puerto Rico and not to the operation of Federal activities and programs undertaken by the United States in Puerto Rico. * The expenses of the U.S. Government in Puerto Rico can be classified into three groups: (1) The Defense Establishment. including payments to veterans. (Thousands of Puerto Ricans have served during the First World War. the Second World War. and the Korean action and. of course. are entitled to the same compensations as their mainland fellow citizens.) (2) Civilian Federal agencies. which operate in Puerto Rico in the same way as in any State of the Union. (Federal agencies in Puerto Rico Include. of course. the post office system. the Immigration Service. the U.S. district court. buoys. lighthouses. agricultural agencies. etc.) (3) Grantinaid laws. which have been extended to Puerto Rico and which operate with joint FederalCommonwealth funds. under the supervision of the respective Federal departments. The same rates of tariff applying in the United States to imports from foreign countries apply to merchandise from foreign countries coming into Puerto Rico. The expenses incurred for collecting the customs duties in Puerto Rico are paid out of collections made. and the remainder is covered into the treasury of Puerto Rico (see sec. 4 of the Organic Act of 1900 and sec. 58 of the Second Organic Act of 1917).