Puerto Rico Hearings & Public Record
Explore hearings on political status, energy, health care, hurricane recovery, fiscal oversight, civil rights, and Vieques. Entries are organized by issue and chronologically within each section. Full-hearing links, excerpts, public forums, and commission briefings are labeled. This growing archive is not exhaustive; a verified YouTube copy has not been located for every historical proceeding.
Political status & voting rights / Estatus y voto
June 1, 1989 · Governor Rafael Hernández Colón
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee · Political status of Puerto Rico. An archival YouTube upload identifies Hernández Colón’s appearance on this date; the printed hearing record confirms his testimony. Playback and completeness of the upload have not been independently verified.
Archival YouTube recording · Printed Senate hearing record
August 1, 2013 · Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
Political status of Puerto Rico following the 2012 referendum. Witnesses included Governor Alejandro García Padilla and Pedro Pierluisi, then Resident Commissioner. Hearing excerpts: Watch Chairman Ron Wyden’s opening remarks on YouTube · Watch Chairman Wyden’s questions to witnesses on YouTube.
Official hearing record and witness statements
June 24, 2015 · Three former governors
House oversight hearing on Puerto Rico’s political status and economic outlook. Panel II included Luis Fortuño, Carlos Romero Barceló, and Aníbal Acevedo Vilá. Attorney General César Miranda represented Governor Alejandro García Padilla; García Padilla was not the listed witness.
Watch the committee recording on YouTube · Official witness list and testimony · Official transcript
October 5, 2018 · International hearing on voting rights
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Boulder, Colorado. Hearing on the Puerto Rico voting-rights petitions, including Roselló and others v. United States. This is an international human-rights proceeding associated with former Governor Pedro Rosselló’s petition, not a congressional status-bill hearing.
Watch the official IACHR recording on YouTube · Official hearing calendar and video source
April 14, 2021 · House Natural Resources Committee
Full legislative hearing on Puerto Rico status proposals H.R. 1522 and H.R. 2070. Witnesses included Governor Pedro Pierluisi and former Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá. Watch the full hearing on YouTube.
June 16, 2021 · House Natural Resources Committee
Second legislative hearing on the two Puerto Rico status proposals. Watch the full hearing on YouTube · Official committee video page.
June 4, 2022 · Public-input forum in San Juan
Puerto Rico Status Act discussion draft. This was a public-input forum, not a formal committee legislative hearing. Watch the forum on YouTube · Official House report citing the recording.
PROMESA & fiscal oversight / Supervisión fiscal
June 11, 2020 · PROMESA implementation during the coronavirus pandemic
House Natural Resources oversight hearing on PROMESA implementation during COVID-19.
Watch the hearing recording on YouTube · Official hearing record
July 16, 2025 · House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs
Puerto Rico’s Fiscal Recovery Under PROMESA and the Road Ahead. Related fiscal oversight, not a status-bill hearing. Watch the committee recording on YouTube · Official hearing page.
Energy & the electrical grid / Energía
July 23, 2020 · Transformation of PREPA
House Natural Resources oversight hearing on the transformation of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and the island’s energy system.
Watch the hearing recording on YouTube · Official hearing record
October 6, 2021 · PREPA after implementation of the LUMA contract
House oversight hearing on transmission and distribution operations following implementation of the LUMA contract.
Watch the hearing recording on YouTube · Official hearing record
September 26, 2024 · Reliable and resilient electricity
House Indian and Insular Affairs oversight hearing examining Puerto Rico’s electrical grid, reliability, and resilience. The committee witness list includes LUMA, Genera PR, the Energy Bureau, and COR3 representatives.
Watch the hearing recording on YouTube · Official hearing record
Health care & Medicaid / Salud
June 20, 2019 · Strengthening health care in the U.S. territories
House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing on health care in the territories for today and into the future. The event date comes from the recording’s description.
Watch the hearing recording on YouTube
March 17, 2021 · Averting a crisis in territorial health care
House Health Subcommittee hearing on protecting access to health care in the U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico.
Watch the hearing recording on YouTube · Official hearing record
Hurricane recovery & reconstruction / Recuperación
July 11, 2019 · The road to recovery after Irma and María
House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing on recovery in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands after Hurricanes Irma and María.
Watch the hearing recording on YouTube · Official hearing record
September 15, 2022 · FEMA recovery efforts five years later
House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee hearing reviewing FEMA recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands five years after Irma and María.
Watch the hearing recording on YouTube · Official hearing record
November 17, 2022 · Post-disaster reconstruction and power-grid development
House Natural Resources oversight hearing on Puerto Rico’s reconstruction and electrical system, including testimony from Governor Pedro Pierluisi.
Watch the hearing recording on YouTube · Official hearing record
Civil rights, Insular Cases & Vieques / Derechos civiles
May 12, 2021 · The Insular Cases and H. Res. 279
House Natural Resources legislative hearing concerning the Insular Cases resolution. The full-hearing link is also cited in Representative Raúl Grijalva’s published hearing remarks.
Watch the hearing recording on YouTube · Official hearing record
June 30, 2021 · Vieques recovery, redevelopment, and compensation proposals
House Office of Insular Affairs legislative hearing on H.R. 1317 and H.R. 1126, addressing Vieques redevelopment and compensation for people affected by military activities.
Watch the hearing recording on YouTube · Official hearing record
December 10, 2021 · Civil rights implications of Hurricane María disaster relief
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights public briefing concerning Puerto Rico. This entry opens a YouTube playlist of briefing recordings; it is a commission proceeding rather than a congressional hearing.
Watch the briefing playlist on YouTube · Official hearing record
Additional official records
June 17, 2026 · State of the U.S. territories
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s witness list includes Governor Jenniffer González-Colón. Read the official hearing page and testimony. A full YouTube recording has not been verified for this entry.
Governors in the earlier official record
These entries document testimony even where a verified YouTube copy has not been located.
March 19, 1997 · Governor Pedro Rosselló: House hearing on H.R. 856—printed record.
November 15, 2006 · Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá: Senate hearing on the President’s Task Force report—official record.
June 24, 2009 · Governor Luis Fortuño and former Governor Carlos Romero Barceló: House hearing on H.R. 2499—official witness list and testimony.
May 19, 2010 · Governor Luis Fortuño: Written testimony supporting H.R. 2499 before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
A verified YouTube recording has not yet been located for these earlier entries. Dates refer to the event, not the upload date. Fuente histórica: las opiniones de los participantes pertenecen a sus respectivas fechas.
Watch the full 2021 hearings below
April 14, 2021 · First legislative hearing
June 16, 2021 · Second legislative hearing
House Committee on Natural Resources · Puerto Rico status proposals