Ruben Barrales and Kevin Marshall

“ A possibility of Puerto Rico taking this other step that's not quite independence, but --
MR. BARRALES: Let me address -- Kevin, I'm sure, will have something to add. Actually, no, we think it is quite independence. We really think free association would be a configuration of the people and Congress choosing independence. In other words, we could see a scenario where if the people and Congress chose to move in the direction of independence, they might (inaudible) , but we want to remain closely associated with the United States, that that would be moving towards independence. ”

“ No, we worked very diligently and fair in terms of reviewing all the options. And, again, it is not up to the task force; it's up to people of Puerto Rico and the Congress to decide what the future of Puerto Rico should be. ”

“ Well, it is, again, for those who are not very familiar with the issue, it does provide an historical overview very briefly -- so in that sense, maybe, a road map of what's happened to date. And then it provides what I hope is a level playing field for those who are interested in moving the process forward in terms of what we think the options are that are available and our recommendations for a way to move forward, in terms of our recommendations within the report.
There may be other ways to move forward, and we're interested in working with anyone who wants to help in that regard. ”

“ And we hope to work in cooperation with all of those involved. And at this point, we hope that Congress will take a look at the recommendations and hopefully move the question forward.
So with that, I'm going to see if -- or ask if Kevin has anything he might want to add.
MR. MARSHALL: I just want to comment on the legal question a little bit. The primary issue is whether the Constitution allows for some commonwealth status that couldn't be altered without the consent of Puerto Rico. And we conclude that it -- the Constitution does not. ”

“ Q I just have one last issue I wanted to discuss with you guys. You very clearly say in the recommendation that it is the people of Puerto Rico -- and you reiterated that in this conference -- that it is the people of Puerto Rico that would have to make a choice as to status, right? ”