DEMS URGE VOTE ON PUERTO RICO STATEHOOD

A group of Democratic congress members, including the House majority leader, on Thursday proposed a binding plebiscite to decide whether Puerto Rico should become a state or gain some sort of independence.

The draft proposal unveiled at an online news conference would commit Congress to accepting Puerto Rico into the United States if voters on the island approve it. But even if the plan were to pass the Democratic-led House, the proposal appears to have little chance in the Senate, where Republicans have long opposed statehood.

Voters also could choose outright independence or independence with free association, whose terms would be defined following negotiations over foreign affairs, U.S. citizenship and use of the U.S. dollar, said Rep. Darren Soto of Florida.

If no majority emerges, a second round of voting would be held between the top two alternatives.

The measure, not yet introduced, follows months of negotiations between federal lawmakers who have long disagreed on what Puerto Rico’s political status should be.

“Getting to this point has not been an easy process. Is it perfection? No,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees affairs in U.S. territories.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said all those involved had to make compromises, but he pledged to push the bill through.

Puerto Rico has held seven unilateral, nonbinding referendums on the issue, but this would be the first that would not include possible continuation of the current status as a U.S. commonwealth.

As a U.S. territory, Puerto Ricans have U.S. citizenship but are not allowed to vote in general elections; they have a congressional representative with limited voting powers, and they receive less money from certain federal programs than do people in U.S. states.