The Young Project (1998) was an initiative by various members of the United States' Congress to resolve the political status of the Commonweatlh of Puerto Rico. The project was named after Alaska's congressman Don Young, who was the leader of the initative.

Definition and Controversy

The Young Project offered Puerto Ricans four options for their political future: Statehood, Independence, Associated Republic or the current Commonwealth status. The project proposed to carry out a referendum in which the people of Puerto Rico could chose the option they preferred.

This project created a huge controversy in Puerto Rican politics for two reasons. First, because the project was pushed by both Governor Pedro Rosselló and Resident Commissioner Carlos Romero Barceló who were avid statehood supporters. Second, because the option of Commonwealth was defined as a "territoy subject to the supreme powers of the U.S Congress". This meant that Puerto Rico was in fact a colony of the United States and not a true commonwealth.

The Popular Democratic Party, who supported the Commonwealth option, fiercely opposed this project because it felt that the Commonwealth of 1952 between the United States and Puerto Rico was a farse if indeed the definition proposed by the Young Project was adopted.

In the end, the U.S House of Representatives ratified the project but the Senate vetoed it. However, Puerto Rico's Governor, Rosselló, decided to have the referendum in the island even though it did not have congressional approval. The Popular Democratic Party led a campaign in favor of the None of the Above column to boycott the referendum. On December, 1998, the None of the Above column obtained the majority of the vote.