House approves bill to let Puerto Ricans vote to become 51st state

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by AnotherKD

...but still no statehood (or referendum) for DC.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...pid=sec-nation


By Jim Abrams
Friday, April 30, 2010

The House on Thursday approved legislation that could set in motion changes in Puerto Rico's 112-year relationship with the United States, including a transition to statehood or independence.
The House bill would give the 4 million residents of the island commonwealth a two-step path to expressing how they envision their political future. It passed 223 to 169 and now must be considered by the Senate.
Initially, eligible voters, including those born in Puerto Rico but residing in the United States, would vote on whether they wish to keep their current political status or opt for a different direction.


They've tried a couple of times before (at least in 1993 and 1998), and each time it has been turned down. I wonder how it will fare this time.

Residents of PR already pay federal taxes (FICA, but not federal income taxes). They ARE considered US citizens, and natural born citizens CAN be president (provided they meet all other criteria). I don't believe that PR has Congressional representation on the federal level, but can serve in appointed roles in the federal government. If they allowed the Commonwealth to become a state, the rights (to vote, etc.) would become inherent.

Something I wonder, though, is whether "Puerto Rican" considered an ethnicity or a nationality? There is an indigenous Native American tribe who also populated other islands (DR, Cuba, Haiti). Spaniards came in the 1700s and married into the tribes, then later brought slaves from Africa. Immigrants from China, Italy, France, Germany and Lebonon arrived as well. Americans also came over in numbers around the turn of the 20th century. Though Spain lost control of the area, Spaniards continued to move there. In the 1960s, an influx of Cuban refugees arrived, and more recently, people from the DR.

Spanish is the most commonly spoken language in PR. Despite the number of different ancestral roots of its residents - European, African, Asian, Native American, many people consider Puerto Rican people as "Hispanic". How accurate is that? Is it simply because of language? Spain - a European country - isn't "Latin American".

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As for residents of DC, I have tried to understand the issues, but I can't quite grasp the constitutional barriers to statehood and/or residential representation and voting rights. The case of "taxation without representation" is valid here. If anyone can shed some light on that for me, it would be great. Of all the reading I have done, I just am not grasping the reasons against statehood or voting rights.