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PUERTO RICO Puerto Rico, a U.S. possession since 1898, became a commonwealth in 1952. Since then, Puerto Ricans have been considering three significantly different political status options -- statehood enhanced commonwealth and independence -- as an alternative to the present relationship with the United States. The political status debate continues, in part, because the last plebiscite held on November 14, 1993 failed to yield a majority vote on any of the three options: 48.6% enhanced commonwealth, 46.3 statehood; 4.4% independence. Commonwealth voters elect a resident commissioner, who has a voice but no vote in the House of Representatives. The current resident commissioner is the Honorable Carlos A. Romero-Barcelo. GUAM Currently, Guam is an unincorporated, organized Territory of the United States. It is "unincorporated" because not all provisions of the U.S. Constitution apply to the Territory. Guam is an "organized" territory because the Congress provided the territory with an Organic Act in 1950 which organized the government much as a constitution would. The Guam Organic Act currently provides a republican form of government with locally-elected executive and legislative branches and an appointed judicial branch. Guam also has an elected representative to Congress -- The Honorable Robert Underwood. AMERICAN SAMOA American Samoa, an unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States, is administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior. It is "unincorporated" because not all provisions of the U.S. Constitution apply to the territory. American Samoa is an "unorganized" territory because the Congress has not provided the territory with an organic act, which organizes the government much like a constitution would. Instead, the Congress gave plenary authority over the territory to the Secretary of the Interior, who in turn allowed American Samoans to draft their own constitution under which their government functions. USVI The U.S. Virgin Islands, an unincorporated territory of the United States, was placed under the administration of the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to Executive Order 5566 in 1931. These islands are under the sovereignty of the United States. In 1980, the Virgin Islands Commission on Status and Federal Relations was created to educate the public on various political status options. A referendum was held in 1993 with only 10,710 or 31.4 percent of the 39,038 eligible voters participating which was below the 50 percent plus one needed. As a result, the Commission was disbanded on December 31, 1993. Under legislation passed in 1968, the Virgin Islands has had a democratically elected form of government since 1970. Prior to 1970, the Governor of the Virgin Islands was appointed by the President of the United States and reported to the Secretary of the Interior under the territory's 1954 revised organic act. The Government of the Virgin Islands is headed by a popularly elected governor and lieutenant governor for four-year terms. The Member of Congress from the U.S. Virgin Islands is currently the Honorable Donna Christian-Christensen (D). She possesses the same powers and privileges as Representatives from the States, with the exception of voting on the House floor.