HR2757, the Puerto Rico Status Act, now has 65 cosponsors. Here is the list, as of today:
- Don Bacon
- Earl Blumenauer
- Jamaal Bowman
- Brendan F. Boyle
- Kathy Castor
- Tony Cárdenas
- Ed Case
- Lori Chavez-DeRemer
- Andre Carson
- Vicente Gonzalez
- Diana DeGette
- Madeleine Dean
- Lloyd Doggett
- Debbie Dingell
- Anna G. Eshoo
- Veronica Escobar
- Sylvia R. Garcia
- Ruben Gallego
- John P. Sarbanes
- Andrew R. Garbarino
- Al Green
- Jared Huffman
- Sydney Kamlager-Dove
- Robin L. Kelly
- Brenda L. Lawrence
- Barbara Lee
- John B. Larson
- Ted Lieu
- Teresa Leger Fernandez
- Andy Levin
- Debbie Wasserman Schultz
- Betty McCollum
- Grace F. Napolitano
- Jerrold Nadler
- Eleanor Holmes Norton
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
- Ilhan Omar
- Frank Pallone Jr.
- Bill Pascrell Jr.
- Ayanna Pressley
- Jamie Raskin
- Lucille Roybal-Allard
- Adam Schiff
- Bradley Schneider
- Kurt Schrader
- David Scott
- Terri A. Sewell
- Albio Sires
- Mary Sattler Peltola
- Thomas R. Suozzi
- Mark Takano
- Dina Titus
- Mike Thompson
- Paul D. Tonko
- Lori Trahan
- David J. Trone
- Rashida Tlaib
- Norma J. Torres
- Xochitl Torres Small
- Ritchie Torres
- Norma J. Torres
- Juan Vargas
- Nydia M. Velazquez
- Filemon Vela Jr.
- Ann Wagner
- Marc A. Veasey
- Sheila Jackson Lee
- Mark Walker
- Bonnie Watson Coleman
- Brad R. Wenstrup
- Bruce Westerman
- Frederica S. Wilson
- Robert J. Wittman
- Steve Womack
- Rob Woodall
- John A. Yarmuth
- Lee Zeldin
This list includes 6 Republicans and 59 Democrats from 25 states and territories.
Why does the Puerto Rico Status Act need cosponsors?
Congress can admit states with a simple majority. Alaska was admitted with 53% of the votes. The admission of Texas as a state passed the Senate by just one vote in 1845. The Puerto Rico Status Act, which has been introduced in the House as HR2757, passed I n the previous Congress and could be voted on and passed at any time by the current Congress.
However, it is now the custom to wait until a measure already “has the votes” — that is, until a majority of Members of the House have committed to voting in favor of the bill. The Senate also has the filibuster. This basically requires 60 commitments before a measure can be voted upon.
A bill’s cosponsors are a means of keeping track of how much support a bill has.
How does a bill get cosponsors?
One of the main reasons a member of Congress will cosponsor a bill is that their constituents asked them to. Legislators are supposed to represent their constituents. If the people who live in their districts want a vote to go one way or another, the representatives will be more likely to vote in that direction.
When you email, tweet, or call your representative, the contact you make is counted and measured. Often this is done by software, but it can also be done by the representative’s staff. You might think that there’s no point in reaching out because your rep will not personally read your communications, but this is not the case. Your congressperson cares about the voters in your district.
What about Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rico has one voting member of the House and no senators. The congresspeople from Ohio do not keep Puerto Rico at the top of their minds — those people are not their voters. This means that the people living in the states play a very important part in getting justice and equal rights for Puerto Rico. Only if your rep understands that you, the voter, care about Puerto Rico will he or she consider cosponsoring legislation intended to bring equal rights and justice to Puerto Rico.
Your communication with your reps has been instrumental in bringing HR2757 to 65 cosponsors. If your reps are not on that list, please reach out to them today and make sure they know that this is an important issue.
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