Letter from Governor of Puerto Rico to the President

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# Letter from Governor of Puerto Rico to the President ## Overview This document is a textual segment extracted from a larger legal and historical record, titled *Vieques Remarks*, created on November 29, 1999. It takes the form of a formal letter addressed to the U.S. President, specifically President William Jefferson Clinton, and is part of a broader set of materials concerning the future of U.S. Navy training operations on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. The segment spans lines 747 to 774 of the source file and was extracted on January 28, 2026, from a plain text version of a scanned document. ## Context The letter is embedded within [Vieques Remarks](arke:01KG2TSWADQKM6FJC6H5J03W80), a compilation of presidential statements and supporting documents related to the resolution of public and political conflict over military training on Vieques. It directly follows [Presidential Directive 1002](arke:01KG2TTKGE31F37J72DGFBMKH6), which outlines federal funding initiatives for Vieques, and is situated in a collection of materials processed as part of the [Test Collection](arke:01KG2T49K0H5GDRB0G4YDTPG8H). The letter serves as official endorsement from the Governor of Puerto Rico of the President’s proposed plan, lending crucial territorial cooperation to the federal initiative. ## Contents The letter expresses support for the President’s interagency memorandum on Vieques naval training. The Governor commits the resources of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to cooperate with federal authorities in ensuring uninterrupted military training on the range, including refraining from litigation and assisting in preventing trespassing. The Governor also announces the intention to appoint a Commissioner for Vieques to coordinate with the Senior Naval Representative in implementing agreed-upon measures. The text is followed by a presidential summary of the broader Vieques action plan, including a forthcoming referendum for the people of Vieques to decide the future of military training on the island, with a vote to be held by March 2002.

description_generated_at

2026-01-28T17:38:34.045Z

description_model

Qwen/Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507

description_title

Letter from Governor of Puerto Rico to the President

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774

extracted_at

2026-01-28T17:36:09.234Z

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structure-extraction-lambda

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01KG2TSDH74M9V91ZF5BXGKK3C

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747

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Letter from Governor of Puerto Rico to the President Dear Mr. President: The interagency memorandum you have issued regarding naval training on Vieques provides a fair and positive basis for resolution of a long-standing issue. Recognizing the actions you have taken in that regard, I will commit that the resources of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico will be used in cooperation with relevant Federal authorities, to ensure continued training on the range within the limits described in your interagency memorandum. Specifically, we will not initiate litigation that would constrain use of the range, and we will support Federal efforts to assure that trespassing or other intrusions on the range cease entirely by providing complementary support required of state and local jurisdictions. Further, I intend to appoint a Commissioner for Vieques to work with the Senior Naval Representative in Puerto Rico in implementing the steps we have agreed upon. Sincerely <!-- [Page 29](arke:01KG2TPQE45YAPAF37C0RV17N1) --> I am announcing a course of action to resolve the impasse over U.S. armed forces training at Vieques. This course will give the people of Vieques the right to determine the future of the isalnd while at the same time assuring that our training needs are met. I have received a letter from the Governor of Puerto Rico endorsing this course. I am issuing two directives. Under the first, no later than March 2002, and perhaps sooner, the people of Vieques will vote. In that vote, they will be asked to choose between two alternatives. If they choose the first, the Navy will cease all training on Vieques and leave the island by May 1, 2003. If they choose the other, training will continue on Vieques on terms that will be presented [by the Navy] at least three months before the vote. [live fire mention?] In the meantime, until that vote is held, I am ordering several other steps to ensure that our servicemen and women get the training they need. [take first, second, third points from script...] <!-- [Page 30](arke:01KG2TPQG8N16ANWKYPFJG0RY0) --> Marge + John L → M Farney Father Paul Sat + Sun

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Letter from Governor of Puerto Rico to the President