Statehood movement in Puerto Rico

Statehood movement in Puerto Rico

Purpose	advocates for Puerto Rico to become a state of the United States
Key people	Carlos Romero Barceló Juan Celso Barbosa Luis A. Ferré Luis Fortuño Pedro Pierluisi Pedro Rosselló
Affiliations	New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association

The statehood movement in Puerto Rico comprises initiatives throughout the history of Puerto Rico aimed at changing the current political status of Puerto Rico and creating a U.S. state named "Puerto Rico". The movement is not limited to one group of individuals or one single organization, but represents the events and activities of groups, organizations, and individuals that share the common goal of advocating, supporting, or seeking statehood for Puerto Rico.

On December 11, 2012, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico enacted a concurrent resolution to request the President and the Congress of the United States to respond diligently and effectively, and to act on the demand of the people of Puerto Rico, as freely and democratically expressed in the referendum held on November 6, 2012, to end its current status as a territory and to begin the process to admit Puerto Rico to the Union as a state.

In 2014, resolutions were introduced in both houses of the United States Congress (H.R. 2000; S. 2020) to hold a yes-or-no referendum among Puerto Rican residents on statehood, with a "yes" majority compelling the President to submit legislation enacting Puerto Rican statehood. Both resolutions died in committee.

Background

Further information: Political status of Puerto Rico

Following the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States in 1898. Puerto Rico is an unincorporated, organized territory of the US with Commonwealth status. Puerto Ricans were given US citizenship in 1917. The Office of the President is responsible for policy relations between the United States and Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico is, by a considerable margin, the largest U.S. territory in terms of both population and geographical area, being similar to Connecticut in both respects. Puerto Rico is represented in Congress by a resident commissioner, who does not have voting power. Puerto Rico does not participate in Presidential elections, though a Puerto Rican resident in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia is able to participate in the ballots there.

Voters chose not to alter the status quo in referenda held in 1967, 1993, and 1998. A 2012 referendum, discussed below, produced a more equivocal result.

History

Since 1967 there have been several referendums that include questions on statehood.

1998 referendum

Main article: Puerto Rican status referendum, 1998

A referendum in December 1998 offered voters four political status options, plus "none of the above." The latter option won 50.5% of the vote, followed by statehood, with 46.6%. Turnout was 71%.

2012 statehood vote

Main article: Puerto Rican status referendum, 2012

On November 6, 2012, eligible voters in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico were presented with two questions. First, when asked to approve or reject Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth (or territory), voters rejected it 54% to 46%.

Second, when then asked to choose their preferred status for Puerto Rico, 61.15% of those who marked an option chose statehood in the United States, while 24% of ballots were submitted blank. The preferred status consultation did not include Puerto Rico's current status as a territory (Estado Libre Asociado as defined by the 1952 Constitution) as a choice, but instead an alternative named "E.L.A. Soberano" President Barack Obama has pledged to respect the voters' decision. In December 2012, newspaper Caribbean Business allegedly obtained, from a White House source, a statement claiming that Obama urged Congress to act upon the referendum's results. On August 1, 2013, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on Puerto Rico's status as a direct result of the 2012 referendum vote and invited Governor Alejandro García Padilla, Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, and pro-independence supporter Rubén Berríos to give testimony and answer questions from the committee.

Future vote

The 2014 budget bill included $2.5 million in funding for a future vote in Puerto Rico's political status. This referendum can be held at any time, as there is no deadline attached to the funds. The referendum may be an issue in the 2016 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election.

Affiliations

In Puerto Rico

• New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
• Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association

Outside Puerto Rico

The 1940 Democratic party platform expressed their support to a larger measure of self-government leading to statehood for Puerto Rico.

The Democratic party platform of 1940 said:

We favor a larger measure of self-government leading to statehood, for Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. We favor the appointment of residents to office, and equal treatment of the citizens of each of these three territories. We favor the prompt determination and payment of any just claims by Indian and Eskimo citizens of Alaska against the United States.

President Gerald Ford proposed statehood in 1976:

I believe that the appropriate status for Puerto Rico is statehood. I propose, therefore, that the people of Puerto Rico and the Congress of the United States begin now to take those steps which will result in statehood for Puerto Rico. I will recommend to the 95th Congress the enactment of legislation providing for the admission of Puerto Rico as a State of the Union.

President Ronald Reagan favored statehood:

I favor statehood for Puerto Rico and if the people of Puerto Rico vote for statehood in their coming referendum I would, as President, initiate the enabling legislation to make this a reality.

President George H. W. Bush raised the issue of statehood before Congress in his first State of the Union message in 1989:

There’s another issue that I’ve decided to mention here tonight. I’ve long believed that the people of Puerto Rico should have the right to determine their own political future. Personally, I strongly favor statehood. But I urge the Congress to take the necessary steps to allow the people to decide in a referendum.

President George H. W. Bush issued a memorandum on November 30, 1992, to heads of executive departments and agencies, establishing the current administrative relationship between the federal government and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This memorandum directs all federal departments, agencies, and officials to treat Puerto Rico administratively as if it were a state insofar as doing so would not disrupt federal programs or operations.

On December 23, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed executive Order 13183, which established the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status and the rules for its membership. Section 4 of executive Order 13183 (as amended by executive Order 13319) directs the Task Force to "report on its actions to the President ... on progress made in the determination of Puerto Rico's ultimate status." President George W. Bush signed an additional amendment to Executive Order 13183 on December 3, 2003, which established the current co-chairs and instructed the Task Force to issue reports as needed, but no less than once every two years.

Both the Democratic Party and Republican Party, in their respective 2008 party platforms, have expressed their support of the rights of the United States citizens in Puerto Rico to determine the destiny of the Commonwealth to achieve a future permanent non-territorial political status with government by consent and full enfranchisement.

The Republican Party platform of 2008 and 2012 says:

We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state after they freely so determine. We recognize that Congress has the final authority to define the constitutionally valid options for Puerto Rico to achieve a permanent non-territorial status with government by consent and full enfranchisement. As long as Puerto Rico is not a state, however, the will of its people regarding their political status should be ascertained by means of a general right of referendum or specific referenda sponsored by the U.S. government.

The Democratic Party platform of 2008 says:

We believe that the people of Puerto Rico have the right to the political status of their choice, obtained through a fair, neutral, and democratic process of self-determination. The White House and Congress will work with all groups in Puerto Rico to enable the question of Puerto Rico's status to be resolved during the next four years.

The Democratic Party platform of 2012 says:

As President Obama said when he became the first President to visit Puerto Rico and address its people in 50 years, Boricuas every day help write the American story. Puerto Ricans have been proud American citizens for almost 100 years. During that time, the people of Puerto Rico have developed strong political, economic, social, and cultural ties to the United States. The political status of Puerto Rico remains an issue of overwhelming importance, but lack of resolution about status has held the island back. It is time for Puerto Rico to take the next step in the history of its status and its relationship to the rest of the United States. The White House Task Force Report on Puerto Rico has taken important and historic steps regarding status. We commit to moving resolution of the status issue forward with the goal of resolving it expeditiously. If local efforts in Puerto Rico to resolve the status issue do not provide a clear result in the short term, the President should support, and Congress should enact, self-executing legislation that specifies in advance for the people of Puerto Rico a set of clear status options, such as those recommended in the White House Task Force Report on Puerto Rico, which the United States is politically committed to fulfilling. The economic success of Puerto Rico is intimately linked to a swift resolution of the status question, as well as consistent, focused efforts on improving the lives of the people of Puerto Rico. We have made great progress for Puerto Rico over the past four years, including a sharp, historic increase in Medicaid funding for the people of Puerto Rico and fair and equitable inclusion in the Recovery Act and the Affordable Care Act. Going forward, we will continue working toward fair and equitable participation for Puerto Rico in federal programs. We support increased efforts by the federal government to improve public safety in Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, with a particular emphasis on efforts to combat drug trafficking and crime throughout our Caribbean border. In addition, consistent with the task force report, we will continue to work on improving Puerto Rico's economic status by promoting job creation, education, health care, clean energy, and economic development on the Island.

The latest report by the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status recommends that all relevant parties—the President, Congress, and the leadership and people of Puerto Rico—work to ensure that Puerto Ricans are able to express their will about status options and have that will acted upon by the end of 2012 or soon thereafter.

The report further recommends, "If efforts on the Island do not provide a clear result in the short term, the President should support, and Congress should enact, self-executing legislation that specifies in advance for the people of Puerto Rico a set of acceptable status options, including the Statehood, that the United States is politically committed to fulfilling. This legislation should commit the United States to honor the choice of the people of Puerto Rico (provided it is one of the status options specified in the legislation) and should specify the means by which such a choice would be made. The Task Force recommends that, by the end of 2012, the Administration develop, draft, and work with Congress to enact the proposed legislation."

Statehood supporters

Supporters of Puerto Rican statehood include:

• José Celso Barbosa (founder of the statehood movement & Republican Party of Puerto Rico)
• Luis A. Ferré (former Governor 1969–73)
• Miguel A. García Méndez (statehood activist)
• Carlos Romero Barceló (former Governor 1977–85, Resident Commissioner to the US House Representatives 1993–2001)
• Pedro Rosselló (former Governor 1993–2001)
• Ricardo Rosselló (son of Pedro Rossello, statehood activist – founder of the "Boricua Ahora es!" pro-statehood campaign in 2012)
• Luis Fortuño (Governor 2009–13, Resident Commissioner to the US House of Representatives 2005–09)
• Pedro Pierluisi (incumbent Resident Commissioner to the United States House of Representatives since 2009)
• Hernán Padilla (former San Juan mayor 1977–85, statehood activist – founder of the "Igualdad" pro-statehood campaign in 2012)
• Jorge Santini (former San Juan mayor 2001–13)
• Carlos Mendez Martinez (Aguadilla mayor since 1997)
• Hector O'Neill (Guaynabo mayor since 1993)
• Ramon Luis Rivera (Bayamon mayor 1977–2001)
• Ramon Luis Rivera Jr. (Bayamon mayor since 2001)
• Kenneth McClintock (State Senator 2001–09, State Senate President 2005–09, Puerto Rico Secretary of State 2009–13)
• Thomas Rivera Schatz (State Senator since 2009, State Senate President 2009–13)
• Jenniffer Gonzalez (State Representative since 2002, Speaker of the State House of Representatives 2009–13)
• Jose Aponte Hernandez (State Representative since 2000, Speaker of the State House of Representatives 2005–09)

See also

• District of Columbia statehood movement

External links

• Read one Model Constitution of the State of Puerto Rico (in Spanish) at the Vivificat blog.

• S.2020 – Puerto Rico Status Resolution Act of 2014
• http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/2020