On June 15, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization heard much testimony about the political status of Puerto Rico, and then passed a consensus resolution calling on the United States to expedite some means for Puerto Rico to determine its future status. See this account of the testimony.
HR 2499, the bill to authorize a vote of Puerto Rico residents as well as all U.S. citizens who were born in Puerto Rico (no matter where they now live), now has 138 co-sponsors. It has gained 25 co-sponsors in the last eleven days. The co-sponsors include 99 Democrats, 40 Republicans, and the independent non-voting member who represents the Northern Mariana Islands.
Among the 23 members of the Hispanic Caucus in the U.S. House, only 10 are among the co-sponsors. A majority of the Black Caucus (25 of the 43 members) are co-sponsors. The chair and both vice-chairs of the Hispanic Caucus are not co-sponsors.
The 40 Republican co-sponsors are Todd Akin of Missouri, Gus Bilirakis of Florida, Rob Bishop of Utah, Charles Boustany of Louisiana, Henry Brown of South Carolina, Dan Burton of Indiana, John Carter of Texas, Michael Castle of Delaware, Michael Conaway of Texas, John Culberson of Texas, Charles Dent of Pennsylvania, Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida, Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, Mary Fallin of Oklahoma, Jeff Flake of Arizona, John Fleming of Louisiana, Trent Franks of Arizona, Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania, Steve LaTourette of Ohio, Dan Lungren of California, Connie Mack of Florida, Kenny Marchant of Texas, Michael McCaul of Texas, Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan, John Mica of Florida, Candice Miller of Michigan, Ron Paul of Texas, Mike Pence of Indiana, Ted Poe of Texas, Bill Posey of Florida, Adam Putnam of Florida, Thomas Rooney of Florida, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, Aaron Schock of Illinois, Christopher Smith of New Jersey, Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania, Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia, Joe Wilson of South Carolina, Robert Wittman of Virginia, and Don Young of Alaska.
I’m happy to see Ron Paul as a co-sponsor!
CJ S. Sotomayor would be very interested in this issue — and may not be able to resist discussing it at her nomination hearing next month.
Another waste of time and money. How could a process dictated by politicians whose only interests are to defend their coffers, be called “democratic”? We’ve traveled this road so many times and, the end result is always the same, nothing, zero, nada.
Why would Sotomayor be interested in this during her nomination process? The senate of always more interested in rowe v wade, “separation” of powers, and about the existence of the christian god.
Well, the bill would probably call for another Ref type event that did happen sometime in the early 1990s and almost backed Statehood.
JUNE 18, 2009, 6:58 P.M. ET.Two Senate Lawmakers Request Expedited Sotomayor Records
.ArticleCommentsmore in Business ».By Kristina Peterson
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)–The top two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee made a bipartisan request Thursday for more of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s records from the Puerto Rican legal aid group where she was a member for 12 years.
Senators Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Jeff….
For their sake, I don’t want Puerto Rico as our 51st state, but they’ve been in limbo for too long. Give them a chance to get in or get out.
The one thing this bill calls for, unlike past votes; is a two-part vote.
“The Government of Puerto Rico is authorized to conduct a plebiscite in Puerto Rico. The 2 options set forth on the ballot shall be preceded by the following statement: `Instructions: Mark one of the following 2 options:
`(1) Puerto Rico should continue to have its present form of political status. If you agree, mark here XX.
`(2) Puerto Rico should have a different political status. If you agree, mark here XX.’.”
“Procedure if Majority in First Plebiscite Favors Option 2- If a majority of the ballots in a plebiscite conducted pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) are cast in favor of Option 2, the Government of Puerto Rico is authorized to conduct a plebiscite on the following 3 options:
(1) Independence: Puerto Rico should become fully independent from the United States. If you agree, mark here XX.
(2) Sovereignty in Association with the United States: Puerto Rico and the United States should form a political association between sovereign nations that will not be subject to the Territorial Clause of the United States Constitution. If you agree, mark here XX.
(3) Statehood: Puerto Rico should be admitted as a State of the Union. If you agree, mark here XX.”
Puerto Rico should be independent!!