CONGRESSWOMAN PLASKETT SPEAKS AT RIGHT TO DEMOCRACY EVENT ON TERRITORIAL RIGHTS AND DEMOCRATIC EQUALITY

For Immediate Release Contact: Tionee Scotland
December 8, 2025 202-808-6129

PRESS RELEASE

CONGRESSWOMAN PLASKETT SPEAKS AT RIGHT TO DEMOCRACY EVENT ON TERRITORIAL RIGHTS AND DEMOCRATIC EQUALITY

Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett (D-VI) delivered remarks at Right to Democracy's "Recognizing Your Leadership Event" on December 4, 2025, addressing the ongoing fight for full democratic rights and equal treatment for the nearly four million Americans living in U.S. territories.

The event was organized by Right to Democracy and featured remarks from Congressman Pablo Hernández of Puerto Rico and honored individuals and organizations advancing democracy and self-determination in America's territories, including Covington & Burling LLP for their pro-bono partnership in securing the Department of Justice's historic condemnation of the Insular Cases, and Gretchen Sierra Zorita for her groundbreaking service as the first White House Director for Puerto Rico and the Territories.

"For 125 years, the racist Insular Cases have justified second-class citizenship and systemic discrimination against my constituents and millions of other Americans," said Congresswoman Plaskett. "While the Department of Justice's condemnation of these cases in 2024 was historic, words must become action. True democracy cannot coexist with colonialism-even when that colonialism wears an American flag."

Congresswoman Plaskett emphasized that as the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the 125th anniversary of the Insular Cases, the tension between these two moments reveals fundamental contradictions in American democracy. The Insular Cases, rooted in racist pseudoscience, declared territorial residents "foreign in a domestic sense" and have been used to justify excluding territories from equal Medicare and Medicaid funding, denying full voting rights in the House of Representatives and membership in the Senate, and withholding access to federal programs that states take for granted.

At the start of the 119th Congress in January, Congresswoman Plaskett addressed territorial voting rights and reaffirmed her commitment to fighting for equal opportunities for the U.S. Virgin Islands and all U.S. territories. She continues to lead this fight through concrete legislative action.

"In 2021, I led bipartisan amendments to prevent the Department of Justice from using federal funds to defend discrimination in United States v. Vaello-Madero-a case that sought to deny SSI benefits to citizens based solely on their residence in a territory," Congresswoman Plaskett stated. "I became the first Member ever from a Territory to serve on the House Ways and Means Committee-the oldest and most exclusive Committee in Congress-giving the Virgin Islands and all territories a voice on tax, trade, and healthcare policy at the highest levels."

Congresswoman Plaskett recently secured eight critical Community Project Funding victories totaling $8.5 million for the Virgin Islands, demonstrating her commitment to delivering tangible results for her constituents while fighting for structural change. She has also worked to secure exemptions from punitive port fees and to make the rum cover-over permanent.

"The work ahead requires all of us-advocates, legal scholars, policymakers, and most importantly, the people of the territories themselves-to push beyond symbolic victories toward structural change," said Congresswoman Plaskett. "We must continue building coalitions and fight for healthcare equity, economic opportunity, and the infrastructure investments our communities deserve."

Congresswoman Plaskett emphasized that every American-regardless of zip code-deserves full democratic rights and equal treatment under law, and that the fight for territorial equality is connected to the broader struggle for American democracy.

"As this nation faces increasing threats to our multi-racial democracy, the territories offer both a warning and a roadmap," said Congresswoman Plaskett. "We are living proof of what happens when 'consent of the governed' becomes conditional, when constitutional protections are treated as negotiable, and we are demonstrating the resilience, creativity, and determination required to demand what is rightfully ours."

Background: Right to Democracy is a project co-founded by Adi Martínez Román and Neil Weare that seeks to overcome historic obstacles to change through a new approach that unites rather than divides. The organization aims to build a real movement focused on confronting and dismantling the undemocratic colonial framework governing people in U.S. territories. Right to Democracy's work is centered on core values including building common ground, respecting differences, provoking change, staying focused on mission, and avoiding toxicity through an approach that centers shared goals. The organization is focused on bringing about a reckoning to address 125 years of colonialism and undemocratic governance in U.S. territories, overruling the Insular Cases, building a coalition that unites all five U.S. territories, ensuring U.S. commitments to democratic principles are achieved in U.S. territories by making decolonization a mainstream issue, and centering diversity as a strength in all their work.

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