Congress must put Puerto Rico on a path toward statehood

-Source-The Hill-

This week, our Resident Commissioner, Jenniffer González, will present a bill in the House of Representatives that paves the way for Congress to grant statehood to the United States Territory of Puerto Rico, a U.S. colony since the end of the Spanish-War of 1898. This will be a landmark in the history of our nation. It has been nearly 60 years since Congress has acted on an admission bill. The time has come to do it again, to show the rest of the world that America is still the place where dreams can come true, where all U.S. citizens are treated equally, no matter where they live.

We need this Congress to act on the will of the people of the island who voted, free and democratically in 2012, then again last year, in favor of statehood for the territory.

The political limbo in which we live in since the end of the 19th century has caused an economic stagnation not seen since in any U.S. jurisdiction. The lack of tools to improve the fiscal situation, stemming from the colonial nature of our political relationship with the U.S. has resulted in a near unprecedent meltdown in America.

Congress must take responsibility for the dire situation in which nearly 3.3 million U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico are in right now. A massive government debt that tops the $72,000 million mark, the most prolonged recession in the western world, which began in late 2005 and has yet to end, and the lack of opportunities for our people are just a few factors that have resulted from the inaction of past Congress.

There are simply no magic solutions to solve the matter, there’s only one road to take: equality, statehood. Congress must provide the island the tools to move forward, to jump start its economy and to control the massive and historic migration wave that, if left unchecked, will thwart any recovery effort. For the past few years, Puerto Ricans have demanded Congress act and nothing tangible has occurred. This needs to change. This must be the year that both, the House of Representatives and the Senate, act to bring a lifeline to Puerto Rico. This has to be the year that Congress will grant the island its path towards statehood: anything less will be unacceptable. Read more