WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Home handed a invoice Thursday that will enable Puerto Rico to carry the first-ever binding referendum on whether or not to grow to be a state or acquire some form of independence, in a last-ditch effort that stands little likelihood of passing the Senate.
The invoice, which handed 233-191 with some Republican assist, would provide voters within the U.S. territory three choices: statehood, independence or independence with free affiliation.
“It’s essential to me that any proposal in Congress to decolonize Puerto Rico learn and led by Puerto Ricans,” mentioned Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., chairman of the Home Pure Assets Committee, which oversees affairs in U.S. territories.
The proposal would commit Congress to just accept Puerto Rico into america because the 51st state if voters on the island permitted it. Voters additionally might select outright independence or independence with free affiliation, whose phrases can be outlined following negotiations over overseas affairs, U.S. citizenship and use of the U.S. greenback.
Majority Chief Steny Hoyer, who has labored on the difficulty all through his profession, mentioned it was “an extended and torturous path” to get the proposal to the Home ground.
“For a lot too lengthy, the individuals of Puerto Rico have been excluded from the complete promise of American democracy and self-determination that our nation has all the time championed,” the Maryland Democrat mentioned.
After passing the Democrat-controlled Home, the invoice now goes to a cut up Senate the place it faces a ticking clock earlier than the top of the yr and Republican lawmakers who’ve lengthy opposed statehood.
Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, of the pro-statehood New Progressive Social gathering, traveled to Washington for the vote. He known as it a historic day and mentioned the three.2 million U.S. residents who reside on the island lack equality, would not have honest illustration within the federal authorities and can’t vote typically elections.
“This has not been a simple combat. We nonetheless have work to do,” he mentioned. “Our quest to decolonize Puerto Rico is a civil rights situation.”
Members of his celebration, together with Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González, cheered the approval of the invoice, though response within the U.S. territory was largely muted and tinged with frustration since it’s anticipated to be voted down within the Senate.
The proposal of a binding referendum has exasperated many on an island that already has held seven nonbinding referendums on its political standing, with no overwhelming majority rising. The final referendum was held in November 2020, with 53% of votes for statehood and 47% towards, with solely somewhat greater than half of registered voters taking part.
The proposed binding referendum can be the primary time that Puerto Rico’s present standing as a U.S. commonwealth just isn’t included as an possibility, a blow to the principle opposition Fashionable Democratic Social gathering, which upholds the established order.
Pablo José Hernández Rivera, an legal professional in Puerto Rico, mentioned approval of the invoice by the Home can be “inconsequential” just like the approval of earlier payments in 1998 and 2010.
“We Puerto Ricans are uninterested in the truth that the New Progressive Social gathering has spent 28 years in Washington spending assets on sterile and undemocratic standing initiatives,” he mentioned.
González, Puerto Rico’s consultant in Congress, praised the invoice and mentioned it will present the island with the self-determination it deserves.
“Many people should not in settlement about how that future must be, however all of us settle for that the choice ought to belong to the individuals of Puerto Rico,” she mentioned.
Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.