[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1405 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1405

To improve the collection and publication of statistics relating to the 
          Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 27, 2019

   Miss Gonzalez-Colon of Puerto Rico (for herself and Mr. Serrano) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
  Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and 
 Commerce, Oversight and Reform, Education and Labor, Agriculture, the 
  Judiciary, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To improve the collection and publication of statistics relating to the 
          Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Puerto Rico Data 
Collection Equality Act''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
        TITLE I--MATTERS RELATED TO FEDERAL STATISTICAL PROGRAMS

Sec. 101. Plan to include the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in Federal 
                            statistical programs.
Sec. 102. Statistics to be collected and reported by the Census Bureau.
Sec. 103. Bureau of Economic Analysis treatment of U.S. Territories.
Sec. 104. National Center for Education Statistics treatment of the 
                            Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Sec. 105. National Agricultural Statistics Service treatment of the 
                            Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Sec. 106. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: 
                            National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Sec. 107. National Center for Health Statistics treatment of the 
                            Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Sec. 108. Bureau of Justice inclusion of Puerto Rico in justice 
                            statistics.
Sec. 109. Energy Information Administration treatment of Puerto Rico.
Sec. 110. Bureau of Labor Statistics treatment of Puerto Rico.
           TITLE II--MATTERS RELATED TO PUERTO RICO'S ECONOMY

Sec. 201. Annual update of the Report on the Competitiveness of Puerto 
                            Rico's Economy.
Sec. 202. Effect of electric power on the economic growth of Puerto 
                            Rico.

        TITLE I--MATTERS RELATED TO FEDERAL STATISTICAL PROGRAMS

SEC. 101. PLAN TO INCLUDE THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO IN FEDERAL 
              STATISTICAL PROGRAMS.

    (a) Plan.--The head of the Interagency Council on Statistical 
Policy shall develop a plan to collect and publish statistics regarding 
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in the same manner as statistics are 
collected and reported by Federal agencies for the several States.
    (b) Implementation.--The head of the Interagency Council on 
Statistical Policy, in coordination with the heads of appropriate 
Federal agencies, shall implement the plan developed under subsection 
(a).
    (c) Report.--Not later than two years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and every two years thereafter, the head of the 
Interagency Council on Statistical Policy shall submit to Congress a 
report which shall include--
            (1) a description of the plan developed under subsection 
        (a); and
            (2) information on the implementation of such plan.

SEC. 102. STATISTICS TO BE COLLECTED AND REPORTED BY THE CENSUS BUREAU.

    (a) In General.--The Director of the Bureau of the Census, in 
consultation with the heads of appropriate Federal agencies, shall 
include statistics regarding the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico collected 
and reported by the Bureau as part of the statistical programs 
described in subsection (b).
    (b) Statistical Programs Described.--The statistical programs 
described in this subsection include the following:
            (1) Census of Governments.
            (2) Survey of Business Owners and Self-Employed Persons.
            (3) Building Permits Survey.
            (4) Quarterly Workforce Indicators.
            (5) American Housing Survey.
            (6) Construction Progress Reporting Survey.
            (7) Housing Vacancy Survey.
            (8) Manufactured Housing Survey.
            (9) Value of Construction Put in Place Survey.
            (10) Current Population Survey.
    (c) National Economic Census.--The Director of the Bureau of the 
Census shall--
            (1) collect and report statistics regarding the 
        Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for the Economic Census of Island 
        Areas in a manner consistent, in terms of both substance and 
        timing, with the collection and reporting of statistics for the 
        National Economic Census; and
            (2) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, submit to Congress a report recommending whether 
        statistics regarding the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico should be 
        included in the National Economic Census rather than in the 
        Economic Census of Island Areas.
    (d) Population of Territories.--With respect to any calculation or 
estimate of the total population of the United States conducted by the 
Bureau of the Census, including the decennial census of population 
under section 141 of title 13, United States Code, the Director of the 
Bureau of the Census shall include in any such calculation or estimate, 
and any report issued or published in connection with such calculation 
or estimate, the total population of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico 
and any other territory or possession of the United States.

SEC. 103. BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS TREATMENT OF U.S. TERRITORIES.

    The Bureau of Economic Analysis shall include Puerto Rico, American 
Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the 
United States Virgin Islands in its quarterly calculation of real gross 
domestic product by State and include such calculations in its 
estimates of the gross domestic product of the Nation as a whole.

SEC. 104. NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS TREATMENT OF THE 
              COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO.

    The Secretary of Education, acting through the National Center for 
Education Statistics, shall, to the maximum extent practicable, collect 
and publish data for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in the same manner 
as data is collected and published for the several States.

SEC. 105. NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE TREATMENT OF THE 
              COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO.

    (a) Surveys in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.--The Administrator 
of the National Agricultural Statistics Service shall--
            (1) include, to the maximum extent practicable, the 
        Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in the surveys conducted by the 
        Service; and
            (2) in the case of agricultural data collection that cannot 
        be carried out under the surveys described in paragraph (1), 
        identify an alternative method of collecting such data from the 
        Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
    (b) Report on Feasibility of Surveys in the Commonwealth of Puerto 
Rico.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Administrator of the National Agricultural Statistics Service 
shall submit a report to Congress that includes recommendations on the 
feasibility of conducting surveys in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

SEC. 106. SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION: 
              NATIONAL SURVEY ON DRUG USE AND HEALTH.

    Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
every 2 years thereafter, the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and 
Substance Use shall submit to each committee of the Congress a report 
on the status of efforts to include the populations of the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico and the other territories of the United States in the 
National Survey on Drug Use and Health for fiscal year 2022 and 
subsequent fiscal years.

SEC. 107. NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS TREATMENT OF THE 
              COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO.

    Section 306 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242k) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (n) as subsection (o); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (m) the following:
    ``(n) In carrying out this section, the Secretary, acting through 
the Center, shall take all reasonable steps to collect, evaluate, and 
make available information with respect to the populations of the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the other territories to the same 
extent as the Secretary collects, evaluates, and makes available 
information with respect to the populations of the several States.''.

SEC. 108. BUREAU OF JUSTICE INCLUSION OF PUERTO RICO IN JUSTICE 
              STATISTICS.

    Section 302(d) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
1968 (34 U.S.C. 10132(d)) is amended by inserting after paragraph (2) 
the following:
            ``(3) Inclusion of puerto rico in justice statistics.--To 
        the extent practicable, the Director shall gather information 
        from Puerto Rico in carrying out the statistical collection, 
        analysis, and dissemination functions of the Bureau.''.

SEC. 109. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION TREATMENT OF PUERTO RICO.

    The Secretary of Energy, acting through the Administrator of the 
Energy Information Administration, shall annually update the data and 
information included on the website of the Energy Information 
Administration in order to ensure, to the extent practicable, that the 
data and information included on the website with respect to Puerto 
Rico is as inclusive and complete as the data and information included 
on the website with respect to any State.

SEC. 110. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TREATMENT OF PUERTO RICO.

    (a) Unemployment Rate.--The Bureau of Labor Statistics shall 
calculate the unemployment rate of Puerto Rico and include such 
calculation when calculating and reporting the Nation's unemployment 
rate.
    (b) Inflation.--The Bureau of Labor Statistics shall calculate the 
rate of inflation in Puerto Rico and include such calculation when 
calculating and reporting the rate of inflation of the Nation.

           TITLE II--MATTERS RELATED TO PUERTO RICO'S ECONOMY

SEC. 201. ANNUAL UPDATE OF THE REPORT ON THE COMPETITIVENESS OF PUERTO 
              RICO'S ECONOMY.

    The Federal Reserve Bank of New York shall annually update the 
report titled ``Report on the Competitiveness of Puerto Rico's 
Economy'' (published June 29, 2012).

SEC. 202. EFFECT OF ELECTRIC POWER ON THE ECONOMIC GROWTH OF PUERTO 
              RICO.

    The Secretary of Energy, acting through the Administrator of the 
Energy Information Administration, shall annually submit to Congress a 
report on the cost and unreliability of electric power in Puerto Rico 
and how such cost and unreliability affects the economic growth of 
Puerto Rico.
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