Despite concerns about Puerto Rico’s debt burden, a bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to see the Caribbean island get statehood.
On Tuesday, they introduced the Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act, which would begin a process for making Puerto Rico the 51st state. Supporters argue that Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens, pay most federal taxes, and can be drafted into the U.S. military, are long past due to transition from their quasi-statehood status as a U.S. territory.
“Right now, we don’t have access to a lot of programs that would allow people not just to grow but to get out of poverty like many states,” Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez, a Republican, told the Washington Examiner.
One objection to Puerto Rico’s statehood is its growing debt burden, which for several years has been more than 100% of GDP, meaning the island’s territorial government is paying more on interest annually than principal from borrowing.
PUERTO RICO GOVERNOR EXPECTS STATEHOOD BILL TO ENTER HOUSE BY MID-MARCH
Democratic Rep. Darren Soto said that’s no reason to oppose statehood.
“This bill in no way obligates the U.S. to erase the debt of Puerto Rico,” Soto, whose central Florida district is home to large communities of Puerto Ricans who have left the island.
Lawmakers also argued Puerto Rico’s current bankruptcy deal with their creditors would not be affected by the state admission act.
“All regular processes that are running will continue. This bill will not stop any process that is,” Gonzalez said. “That’s not going to be stopped because we’re having a state admission.”
Last November, alongside the U.S. presidential election, a nonbinding referendum in Puerto Rico showed 52.52% of voters on the U.S. island territory voted “yes” for statehood. Six such votes have occurred since 1967.
Many Republicans in Congress oppose statehood for Puerto Rico, calling it a backdoor way to elect more Democrats to Congress. They liken it to Democratic efforts to make Washington, D.C., a state, which would bring in two new senators and a House member for the nation’s capital. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been among the most vocal GOP opponents.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Florida Republican Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio have previously voiced support for Puerto Rican statehood. But Scott’s spokesman later noted Puerto Rico needed to “prioritize its billion-dollar debt crisis.”
