51 Puerto Rico Organizations Support Statehood Bills, Oppose Velazquez Bill

51 Puerto Rican organizations, including 44 sited in Puerto Rico, have banded together to send a letter to the House and Senate Committees on Natural Resources, the groups in Congress which are responsible for Puerto Rico.

The letter asks the committees to support the Puerto Rico statehood bills currently in Congress, and to reject the counterproposal introduced by Rep. Nydia Velazquez.

The statehood bills respect the vote in the most recent plebiscite, and the Velazquez bill ignores it.

“For over one-hundred years, the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico have been disenfranchised in federal elections and subjected to unequal treatment across federal programs. Last November, voters stood up to change that when an absolute majority of 53% demanded statehood in a locally sponsored referendum,” the letter begins. “The Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act, H.R. 1522 and S. 780, directly respond to that mandate, and we urge you to support it and help get it approved as soon as possible.”

Statehood won

Statehood has been the top choice of voters in three plebiscites, all the votes held in this century. However, the 2020 referendum was a simple “Yes” or “No” vote, with no possibility of confusion. “Puerto Rico’s referendum was historic because it is the first time that statehood received unquestionable majority support on the island with a simple ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ vote,” the letter states. “The 117th Congress is therefore presented with a unique opportunity to make history and put an end to America’s inherently colonial rule over Puerto Rico, which runs counter to America’s values of democracy, equal justice under the law, and government by the consent of the governed.”

President Biden won the popular vote by 51.3%, the second largest margin in this century. Statehood won by 52.5%, a higher margin than the presidential election. There is no question: statehood won.

George Laws García, the Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Statehood Council, said in a press release, “A direct choice by voters based on a clearly defined constitutionally valid option is real self-determination…This stands in contrast with the ‘Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act’ espoused by Representatives Velázquez and Ocasio-Cortéz that would ignore Puerto Rico’s voters and create a convoluted status convention. This would just delay action and keep Puerto Rico a colony longer against the will of the majority.

“These Members of Congress are trying to replace the results of the recent free and fair plebiscite with a drawn-out process that includes semi-permanent delegates, re-negotiation with Congress on the available status options before the approval of the Puerto Rican people, and then a plebiscite that is ultimately non-binding and would require additional action by Congress to implement the final results. That would be a huge step backward for the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico, who have made it increasingly clear in the last decade that they reject continuing under the current colonial territory status, and a majority favor full democracy and equal rights through statehood. Justice delayed is justice denied, which is why the organizations in our letter all agree that Congress should move swiftly to pass the Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act.”