Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have all supported the idea of Puerto Rico becoming a state. Puerto Rico has held five referendums -- or is it "referenda"? -- on statehood. In 1967, 1993 and 1998, residents voted against statehood. In 2012, a majority voted in favor of statehood but nothing came of it. In June 2017, an overwhelming majority, 97%, voted for statehood. Maybe it will finally happen. Then we can start on Guam, American Samoa, the US Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Puerto Rico introduces bill in Congress seeking statehood by 2021
CBS News, Jun 27 2018 5:35 PM
Puerto Rico's non-voting representative in Congress is introducing a bill that seeks to make the US territory a state by 2021. Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez said today that 14 Democrats and 20 Republicans currently sponsor the bill among the 435 members in the House of Representatives. The Republican sponsors include the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah, and the chairman of the Indian and insular affairs subcommittee, Rep. Doug Lamalfa of California.
The chances for the passage of the bill are not clear. It calls for the creation of a bipartisan, nine-member task force that would submit a report to Congress and to the President identifying laws that would need to be amended or repealed so Puerto Rico could become a state. The panel would also be instructed to recommend temporary economic measures to help the island in the transition to statehood.
Puerto Rico has been a US territory since 1898. Its inhabitants are US citizens, though they are barred from voting in presidential elections and have only one congressional representative with limited voting powers.
Governor Ricardo Rossello said the island's unequal status is the cause for 5.4 million Puerto Ricans to currently reside in the continental US. a trend exacerbated by the damage inflicted in September by Hurricane Maria. "In the past this issue has been very hard to move forward," Rossello said. "No longer do we want ambiguity. We want clarity. Either here in Congress you are with us or you are against the people of Puerto Rico." More than 2,300 customers on the island are still without power nine months after the storm.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/puerto-...ay-2018-06-27/