Senate of Puerto Rico

The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, smaller than the House of Representatives. Together, they compose the legislative branch of the government of Puerto Rico. Two legislative support agencies are part of the Legislative Assembly---the Office of Legislative Services and the Superintendent of the Capitol.

The Senate, its members and staff are housed in the eastern half of the Capitol Building, the Rafael Martinez Nadal Senate Annex Building, the Luis Muñoz Marín Office Building, the Antonio R. Barcelo Building, the Luis A. Ferré Building and the Ramón Mellado Parsons Office Building. The Legislative Assembly Tourism Office offers tours of the historic facilities in the Capitol seven days a week.

Composition

In order to elect the members of the Senate, Puerto Rico is divided into eight senatorial districts:

* San Juan
* Bayamón
* Arecibo
* Mayagüez-Aguadilla
* Ponce
* Guayama
* Humacao
* Carolina

For each one of these districts, the people of Puerto Rico elect two Senators. In addition, the people are allowed to vote for one Senator at-large of their preference. The eleven Senators at-Large with the majority of votes integrate the rest of the Senate.

Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico states that no person can be a member of the Senate unless he or she:

* is capable of reading and writing in either Spanish or English;
* is a citizen of the United States;
* has resided in Puerto Rico for at least two years immediately prior to the date of his election or appointment;
* is over thirty years of age.

Latest election

The Senate is currently composed of 17 members elected under the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (NPP), nine members elected under the pro-status quo Popular Democratic Party (PDP) and one member elected under the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP). The majority delegation has been split since May 2005 among members committed to the current Senate leadership and those who would replace the Senate president with defeated 2004 NPP gubernatorial candidate Pedro Rosselló. As a result of the split, only seven senators, five loyal to the current leadership, and two supporting Rossello, chair all Senate committees. Current leadership is as follows:

* Senator Kenneth McClintock Hernández - President of the Senate
* Senator Orlando Parga Figueroa - VicePresident of the Senate
* Senator Margarita Nolasco Santiago - Senate Majority Leader
* Senator Carlos Pagán González - Senate Majority Whip
* Senator Jose Luis Dalmau Santiago - Senate PDP Minority Leader
* Senator Sila Mari González Calderón - Senate Minority Whip
* Senator Maria de Lourdes Santiago - Senate PIP Minority Leader
* Senator Jorge de Castro Font - Chairman, Senate Rules Committee
* Senator Migdalia Padilla Alvelo - Chairwoman, Senate Treasury Committee
* Senator Lucy Z. Arce Ferrer - Chairwoman, Senate Government Committee
* Senator Orlando Parga Figueroa - Chairman, Senate Federal Affairs and Consumer Committee
* Senator Jorge de Castro Font - Chairman, Senate Judicial, Municipal and Financial Affairs Committee
* Senator Lucy Z. Arce Ferrer - Chairwoman, Senate Health, Social Welfare and Women Affairs Committee
* Senator Migdalia Padilla Alvelo - Chairwoman, Senate Education, Juvenile Affairs, Culture and Sports Committee
* Senator Carlos Diaz Sanchez - Chairman, Senate Commerce, Tourism, Urbanism and Infrastructure Committee
* Senator Carlos Diaz Sanchez - Chairman, Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee
* Senator Orlando Parga Figueroa - Chairman, Senate Public Safety Committee
* Senator Jose E. Gonzalez Velasquez - Chairman, Senate Ethics Committee
* [Manuel A. Torres] - Secretary of the Senate
* Carlos Fajardo - Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate

The Office of Legislative Services is currently headed by Francisco Domenech, while Eliezer Velázquez currently serves as Superintendent of the Capitol.

Current members of the Puerto Rico Senate

*President of the Senate: Kenneth McClintock Hernández (1993-present) "NPP-At Large"
*VicePresident of the Senate: Orlando Parga Figueroa (1999-present) "NPP-At Large"

At Large Senators
*Luz Arce Ferrer (1997-present) "NPP-At Large"
*Norma Burgos Andujar (2001-present) "NPP-At Large"
*Jorge de Castro Font (2005-present) "NPP-At Large"
*José Garriga Picó (2005-present) "NPP-At Large"
*Eudaldo Báez Galib (1993-present) "PDP-At Large"
*Antonio Fas Alzamora (1981-present) "PDP-At Large" (former President of the Senate)
*Sila María González Calderón (2005-present) "PDP-At Large"
*Juan Eugenio Hernández Mayoral (2005-present) "PDP-At Large"
*María de Lourdes Santiago Negrón (2005-present) "PIP-At Large"

District Senators
*Roberto Arango Vinent (2005-present) "NPP-San Juan"
*Carlos Díaz Sánchez (2005-present) "NPP-San Juan"
*Migdalia Padilla Alvelo (2000-present) "NPP-Bayamón"
*Carmelo Ríos Santiago (2005-present) "NPP-Bayamón"
*José Emilio González Velázquez (2005-present) "NPP-Arecibo"
*Pedro Rosselló González (2005-present) "NPP-Arecibo" (former Governor)
*Luis Daniel Muñiz (2005-present) "NPP-Mayagüez-Aguadilla"
*Carlos Pagán González (1997-2001, 2005-present) "NPP-Mayagüez-Aguadilla"
*Modesto Agosto Alicea (1997-present) "PDP-Ponce"
*Bruno Ramos Olivera (1997-present) "PDP-Ponce"
*Margarita Nolasco Santiago (2005-present) "NPP-Guayama"
*Cirilo Tirado Rivera (2001-present) "PDP-Guayama"
*José Luis Dalmau Santiago (2001-present) "PDP-Humacao"
*Jorge Suárez Cáceres (2006-present) "PDP-Humacao"
*Héctor Martínez Maldonado (2005-present) "NPP-Carolina"
*Lornna Soto Villanueva (2005-present) "NPP-Carolina"

Notable former Senators

* Rubén Berríos Martínez (1973-1977,1985-1989,1993-2000) "PIP-At Large" (long-time political activist for the Puerto Rican independence movement, current president of the PIP party)
*Luis A. Ferré (1977-1984), former Governor
*Fernando Martín García (1989-1993,2001-2005) "PIP-At Large"
*Luis Muñoz Marín (1941-48, 1965-70), former Governor
*Victoria Muñoz Mendoza (1986-1993) "PDP-At Large" (daughter of Luis Muñoz Marín, former gubernatorial candidate)
*Luis Negron Lopez, former PDP gubernatorial candidate, Senate Majority Leader and Vice President
*Héctor O'Neill García (1989-1993) "NPP-Bayamón" (current mayor of Guaynabo)
*Ramón Luis Rivera Cruz (1993-2001) "NPP-Bayamón" (current mayor of Bayamon)
*Jorge Santini Padilla (1997-2001) "NPP-San Juan" (current mayor of San Juan)
*TitiRuth Fernández"PDP-At Large" (Puertorican Singer)

Former Senators

The following is a list of former Senators of Puerto Rico, along with their years of service and the senatorial district they represented.

Presidents of the Puerto Rico Senate

Rafael Martínez Nadal (1933-1941)Third President of the Senate

Luis Muñoz Marín (1941-1949)Fourth President of the Senate

Samuel R. Quiñones (1949-1969)Fifth President of the Senate

Rafael Hernández Colón (1969-1973)Sixth President of the Senate

Juan Cancel Ríos (1973-1977)Seventh President of the Senate

Luis A. Ferré (1977-1981)Eighth President of the Senate

Miguel Hernández Agosto (1981-1993)Ninth President of the Senate

Roberto Rexach Benítez (1993-1997)Tenth President of the Senate

Charlie Rodríguez (1997-2001)Eleventh President of the Senate

Antonio Fas Alzamora (2001-2005)Twelfth President of the Senate

Kenneth McClintock (2005-present)Thirteenth President of the Senate

Gallery

ee also

* 15th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico

External links

* [http://www.senadopr.us The Puerto Rican Senate] official site es icon
* [http://www.senadopr.us/en/ The Puerto Rican Senate] official site en icon
* [http://www.oslpr.org The Office of Legislative Services / Oficina de Servicios Legislativos] es icon
* [http://www.oslpr.org/english/ The Office of Legislative Services / Oficina de Servicios Legislativos] en icon