Puerto Rico launches vocal bid for statehood
Hall of Fame catcher Ivan ‘Pudge’ Rodriguez part of ‘shadow’ delegation
By Tom Howell Jr. – The Washington Times – Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Weary of their “colonial” status, a delegation of Puerto Ricans marched on Capitol Hill Wednesday to demand statehood, saying the island territory pays taxes and serves in the military but is being short-changed by federal programs and lacks the political clout to recover from crises like Hurricane Maria.
Governor Ricardo Rosselló said the storm recovery underscored the island’s lack of congressional voting power — until now, many Americans didn’t know that Puerto Ricans were U.S. citizens — as it lobbies for its fair share of hurricane relief funding, alongside Florida and Texas.
“This is the civil rights issue of this time,” Mr. Rosselló said. “It is inconceivable in the 21st century to have the greatest democracy in the world have a colonial territory.”
Mr. Rosselló said there is no excuse for Congress not to grant actual representation to the island.
A whopping 97 percent of the island’s voters supported statehood last year, up from 61 percent in a 2012 vote, and the platforms of both political parties have supported greater representation for Puerto Rico.
Like D.C. and other territories, Puerto Rico’s delegate to Congress — Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón — doesn’t wield an actual vote on legislation.
Former Puerto Rico Gov. Carlos Romero Barceló and Republican committeewoman Zoraida Fonalledas were named as “shadow” senators on Wednesday, while Hall of Fame baseball catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez headlines a cast of five House representatives that will press members of Congress on statehood.
The delegation said they will lobby on behalf of the 3.4 million Puerto Ricans until they get an admissions bill from Congress that clears the way for a binding vote back home to become the 51st state.
“We will not be passive actors in this effort,” Mr. Rosselló said.
Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the U.S. in 1898 at the end of the Spanish-American War. And while islanders gained U.S. citizenship almost two decades later, island leaders say the federal government still acts like a colonial overlord.
It imposed a fiscal control board to straighten out its debt crisis, and unlike in the states, its Medicaid program is capped, making it difficult to deal with crises like the Zika virus.
Yet the uneven response to Hurricane Maria brought things to a head. Much of the island is still without power, nearly four months after the storm hit, and media investigations suggest the death toll has topped 1,000, even though the official toll is fewer than 70.
“Whether pegging it to recovery money or pegging it to fiscal reform, I do believe there is a higher consciousness” of Puerto Rico’s plight, Mr. Rosselló said.
President Trump said the storm’s effects were exacerbated by crumbling infrastructure on the island. He shot paper towels into the crowd like a basketball player on the foul line during a post-storm visit to the island, causing critics to question his commitment to the recovery.
Alfonso Aguilar, a Republican and Latino activist named to the shadow House delegation, said some people appear to be using Puerto Rico’s plight just to bash Mr. Trump, when the island’s status is the real problem.
Statehood would put the island on equal footing with states that can tap pots of emergency funding and health care dollars, he said.
Others said prejudice was to blame.
Mr. Barcelo said if Puerto Rico were an island of Irishmen instead of Spanish-speakers, “We probably would have been a state long ago.”
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