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Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett’s legislation for a Congressional Commission to recognize the 1917 transfer of the Virgin Islands for Denmark to the United States is on its way to becoming law after it passed the U.S. Senate last night.

The Virgin Islands of the United States Centennial Commission Act, once signed into law by the President, will form an eight-member commission to engage other lawmakers in Congress and the Administration in a new national discussion around the issues that still exist in the Virgin Islands one hundred years after it became a territory of the United States.

“I expect this commission to not only assist our local Centennial Commission in its efforts, but also to raise a national awareness to the history of the Virgin Islands before and after it became a territory of the United States. I also expect the commission’s work to lend to the discussions around equal treatment and status, as well as the other important conversations around our progress at the turn of a new century as the Virgin Islands of the United States,” Plaskett said.

Make up of the Congressional Centennial Commission

The Congressional Centennial Commission will seat:

• The Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs or Designee;
• The Governor of the Virgin Islands or Designee;
• Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House;
• One member of the U.S. House of Representatives appointed by the Minority Leader or the House.
• Two members of the Senate appointed by the Senate Majority Leader;
• One member of the Senate appointed by the Senate Minority leader.

Members of the Commission will be appointed within 90 days after the enactment of the law and will remain until the Sept. 30, 2018 termination of the commission.

The Virgin Islands of the United States will commemorate the centennial anniversary of the Transfer on March 31, 2017.

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