Self-Determination in the Virgin Islands & the 6th Constitutional Convention

Congresswoman Plaskett delivers a 5-minute floor speech on self-determination in the Virgin Islands and congratulates members serving on the territory's 6th Constitutional Convention.

“The Virgin Islands has held five constitutional conventions since its acquisition by the United States in 1917 yet no constitutional drafts have been approved since 1977,” said Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett.

Official transcript made available by the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office.

“Madam Speaker, today, I rise to acknowledge and

congratulate the newly elected members of the Sixth Constitutional

Convention in the Virgin Islands.

The willingness of each one of them to help us move forward to

achieve civil rights and self-determination as a collective people is

commendable. The work that they do in this legislative session will

uplift generations of Virgin Islanders to come.

The legacy of the Virgin Islands--Saint Croix, Saint Thomas, Saint

John, and Water Island--continues to be defined by the collective

greatness of all Virgin Islanders who have resisted exploitation in the

name of freedom and independence.

We first exercised our right of self-determination in 1493 when a

Carib war party on the island of Saint Croix fiercely resisted

Christopher Columbus' expedition, preventing his men from establishing

a foothold on the island.

Over the next 200 years, the Caribs fought colonization until they

were completely eradicated in 1590. Their enduring resistance is our

ancestral legacy. The island of Ay Ay, Saint Croix, from which I come,

is proud to see this legacy continue in this Sixth Constitutional

Convention.

It continues. In 1733, the Akwamu, enslaved individuals from Ghana,

fought against their enslavement on the island of Saint John and became

the first organized armed resistance in the Western Hemisphere against

enslavement. They held that island for almost a year until the Danes

working with the Spaniards, the French, and the British were able to

overthrow them.

The organizers of that rebellion chose collective suicide rather than

go back to slavery.

In 1848, on the island of Saint Croix, those enslaved organized

themselves, rose up, and took their freedom. Our freedom was not given

to us by any individual or any government. We took it for ourselves.

That is the legacy from which I come, and as a daughter of the Virgin

Islands, I will continue that fight.

The Virgin Islands has held five Constitutional Conventions since its

acquisition by the United States in 1917, yet no constitutional drafts

have been approved since 1977. Personally, I believe some of the issues

that we have put in our constitution are issues that were never

resolved by Denmark when we became part of the United States.

As of 2025, the Virgin Islands have governed under the Revised

Organic Act of 1954, which acts as the de facto local constitution

after being passed by Congress in 1936.

As not only the Representative of the Virgin Islands here in Congress

but as a daughter of those islands, my family on both sides go back in

records to the 1700s, maybe earlier. And it is for them that I continue

to fight for the fundamental and constitutional rights for which all

Americans, including Virgin Islanders, are entitled.

When we became a part of the United States, my grandfather's

generation came to Washington and insisted that we be a part of the

draft. We wanted the responsibility along with the privileges of being

part of the American experience. We are part of the draft. We fight in

every war in numbers per capita greater than any other State, and yet,

no Virgin Islander can vote for their Commander in Chief.

I have built upon the work of my predecessor, Congresswoman Donna

Christensen and numerous Governors of the Virgin Islands to challenge

the United States' reliance on the Insular Cases as it relates to the

territories. The Insular Cases were decided at the turn of the 20th

century by the Supreme Court to justify a racist and colonial legal

framework for the territories.

Now, you may ask, oh, why are you saying it is racist? When the

Supreme Court Justice in his opinion says that the people who inhabit

these islands are savages who cannot understand constitutional law,

that is prima facie racism to me, particularly when a Virgin Islander

who came to the United

States in the 1700s, Alexander Hamilton, helped to write that

Constitution under which we stand.

However, through hard work, we have worked together over the years to

overturn the Insular Cases, advance equality, and challenge the status

quo. In both the 116th and 117th Congress, I am grateful that under

Democratic leadership the For the People Act of 2019 and the For the

People Act of 2021 included a path for voting rights and self-

determination for U.S. territories. Both pieces of legislation included

a congressional task force to review the issues and make

recommendations on providing equitable voting representation in

Congress, voting rights in the Presidential election, and fair

inclusion in Federal voter protection and election integrity laws.

In this 119th Congress, I will continue to advocate for the equitable

treatment of all Americans, including my fellow brothers and sisters in

the territories. Self-determination, voting rights, and equitable

treatment under Federal assistance programs must be the cornerstone of

our work. If we work together, we can all achieve meaningful change.”