Puerto Rican Statehood Wouldn’t Mean a New Stronghold for AOC’s Views
The status quo with Puerto Rico is unsustainable — it’s unhealthy for our civic family and inherently un-American. Puerto Rico can’t stay an American Commonwealth forever, and the island has the unpleasant distinction of being the oldest colony in world history. Puerto Rico must become the 51st state.
Puerto Rico as a state would be compelled to make structural changes — economic, governmental, regulatory, and social — that would benefit the people of the island. Indeed, Puerto Rico joining the Union would be a boon to Americans from Anchorage to Old San Juan.
Liberty requires full citizenship, and full participation in America’s unique democratic experiment. What is ‘American Exceptionalism’ if not the idea that anyone from anywhere can be an American? Puerto Ricans are Americans. Period.
One partisan fiction that is holding up statehood is the fear (from some Republicans) that Congress would be overrun by newly elected Democrats. The truth is Puerto Rico would be ‘purple’ if allowed statehood — a swing state that would force the parties to make the best case for their respective agendas. Puerto Rican statehood would not automatically lead to two new Democratic Senators and five new Democratic House members. In fact, Puerto Rico’s Republican party supports statehood — Puerto Rico is not the District of Columbia.
Republican Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon represents the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in Congress. What’s more, the current governor is a Republican, and I had the opportunity to meet another Puerto Rican Republican, Luis Fortuno, who served in both the Congress and as Governor. Unlike in the District of Columbia, Republicans are winning elections in Puerto Rico and engaging in the public square.
The GOP has repeatedly voiced support for Puerto Rican statehood in the party’s platform as recently as 2012 and 2016. The 2012 Republican Platform stated: “We support the right of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state if they freely so determine.”
The 2016 Republican Platform stated:
“We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state. We further recognize the historic significance of the 2012 local referendum in which a 54 percent majority voted to end Puerto Rico’s current status as a U.S. territory, and 61 percent chose statehood over options for sovereign nationhood.”
Both statements were the official position of the Republican Party, and it is a welcoming message to Republicans in Puerto Rico that the Republican Party stands for fairness. The Puerto Rican GOP has said this about statehood:
“The Republican Party of Puerto Rico believes in the equality and dignity of full citizenship rights for the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico that can only be achieved though statehood for Puerto Rico.’
Other evidence of Republican support for the idea shows in the sponsorship list for H.R. (H.R. 4901), the “Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act,” introduced on October 29, 2019 for the purposes of enabling “the admission of the territory of Puerto Rico as a State of the Union.” Republican Representatives Rob Bishop (R-UT), Don Young (R-AK), Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL), Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Ross Spano (R-FL), Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-WA), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Don Bacon (R-NE), Jim Banks (R-IN), Peter King (R-NY), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Bill Posey (R-FL) felt strong enough about the issue to cosponsor the bill. In the Senate, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida have publicly supported statehood. This long list of Republican support shows that elected Republican officials in Washington have taken a leadership position on this issue.
And what about fairness? What about justice? Statehood would allow more citizens to vote for President, Vice President, Senators, and voting members of the House of Representatives. Right now, the 3.4 million people in Puerto Rico can’t vote in federal elections, yet they can serve in the military and are citizens of the United States.
Voting Puerto Ricans are independent. The Miami Herald describes them as:
“not liberals. They are conservatives. Many polls show that Puerto Ricans living in Central Florida registered as Democrats consider themselves conservatives.”
Even this week, Democrats are concerned, even apoplectic, that President Trump will win Florida in a walk if Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders in his party’s nominee.
There aren’t many Puerto Rican “Bernie Bros.” The Puerto Ricans in Florida are considered a fluid and “floating vote” that have aligned themselves in 2004 with George Bush, former Republican Senator Mel Martinez, and Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. One element of why Puerto Rican voters may trend towards Republican is the fact that, according to the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, approximately 70% of the population is Catholic. Puerto Rican voters are more socially conservative than the Democratic Party platform, and more-to-the-right on issues supported by the Democrats running for President today.
Those on the fence over Puerto Rican Statehood shouldn’t be worried that the island is a safe-haven for the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC)-wing of the Democrat party. It’s not. AOC’s Democratic Socialism might play at universities and the Oscars. It plays with the hard left, not with the hard-working Americans living in Puerto Rico who deserve full citizenship.
There should be a civil, spirited debate on the issue of Puerto Rican statehood, but the figment that all Puerto Ricans are liberal, partisan Democrats is just not true. What’s more, the world is watching — America must consistently walk its talk on liberty and self-government.
Jerry Rogers is the founder of Capitol Allies and the host of “The Jerry Rogers Show” on WBAL NewsRadio. Twitter: @CapitolAllies.
