After holding the first hearing on two congressional bills regarding the status of Puerto Rico, Congressman Raúl Grijalva assured that there is wide division on the island and in Congress over the country’s political future.
The Natural Resources Commission today held a marathon hearing that discussed the laws of the House of Representatives 1522 – written by Congressman Darren Soto and Residing Commissioner Jenniffer González – and Bill 2070 – written by Congressman Nydia. Velázquez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The first proposes the admission of Puerto Rico as a state of the United States after holding a second yes or no state consultation. While the second legislative measure aims to create a status treaty in which delegates will be elected who will discuss the status options that will be presented in a referendum as alternatives to the people.
Undoubtedly, there is division. Not just in Puerto Rico in terms of status attitudes, but also in Congress. There are differences in the Senate and in the House. But continuing these discussions is critical. no, Congress plays an important role in this discussion, ”said Grijalva, chairman of the committee that deals with island affairs in Congress.
As part of the discussion of this measure, Grijalva assured that he had consulted President Joe Biden’s government to clarify the position regarding the validity of the consultation held in the November elections, where the state received 52% of the vote. achieved. He also indicated that he has asked the Federal Justice Department to comment on both legislative projects.
In the middle of the hearing, congressmen such as Democrat Rubén Gallego and Republican Bruce Westerman showed their support for Bill 1522 proposing the admission of Puerto Rico as a state. While others, such as Rep. Ed Case, were concerned about the number that won state status in November.
While González during his various turns during the hearing focused most of his questions on Professor Ponsa-Kraus, in which they question the constitutionality of Velázquez and Ocasio-Cortez’s 2070 project.
In his speech, Governor Pedro Pierluisi defended the results of the talks held in November and advocated that Congress support Bill 1522 that promotes the admission of Puerto Rico as a state.
“This is not the time for yet another long and complicated process of debating options. Voters have spoken out clearly and it is time for Congress to accept those results,” the governor said during his initial presentation.
At the hearing, each project had four witnesses in its favor. Project 1522 was defended by Pierluisi; Johanne Vélez, vice president of the Democratic Party in Puerto Rico; José Fuentes, Chair of the Statehood Council and Professor of Christina Ponsa Kraus at Columbia University. While for the 2070 project, the former governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá; former San Juan mayor candidate for the Citizen Victory Movement, Manuel Natal; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rafael “Tatito” Hernández, and the Senator of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), María de Lourdes Santiago.
The hearing was characterized by constant clashes and criticism between which project had the best democratic guarantees. Supporters of the 1522 project thundered against the Velázquez and Ocasio-Cortez Project by calling it undemocratic and as a project that ignored the results of the November consultations.
Acevedo Vilá repeatedly stated in the middle of the hearing that the legislation promoting the status consultation in November 2020 was designed by a majority of the New Progressive Party (PNP) and that it excludes the legislative minorities of the moment. “The whole draft of said legislation was intended to favor only one side,” he said to questions from Congressman Velázquez.
The former governor and former candidate for the resident police station also stated that status on the island remains a polarizing debate and that the state does not enjoy a clear majority, as the defenders claim. He indicated that the study that a study by the Heart Research entity found that, in the younger generations between the ages of 18-34, support for a state has been reduced to 34%. While support for other options such as free association and independence increases to 20% and 15% respectively.
Natal, in turn, pointed out that the 2070 project provides a “level playing field” as opposed to the 1522 project, which stated that it places Puerto Rico in a situation of insubordination. Likewise, he said that in the last election, about 18,000 surplus ballots were identified in connection with the state’s yes or no question.
They question the constitutionality of the 2070 project
González, for his part, repeatedly questioned the constitutionality of the 2070 project, as it stipulates that status options that had already been rejected by Congress could be discussed. Likewise, Professor Ponsa-Krause also said the 2070 project is on the table for discussion of status alternatives that have been discarded that could not be endorsed by Congress. “What’s urgent is that the people of Puerto Rico cannot be fooled into believing they can choose options they really don’t have,” he said, rejecting free association as a status option because it is a form of independence. is.
Ponsa-Kraus, when asked by Republican Congressman Bruce Westerman, also criticized Velázquez’s project seeking to force a future Congress to pass a joint resolution on status options and what will come from a negotiation with the delegates proposing the measure .
Velázquez defended his legislative piece on several occasions, noting that a state is not excluded from the said proposal. “This measure is a way to enable the Puerto Rican people to finally decide their political future … I don’t understand why they fear this measure as it does not exclude the state,” he said.
In his speech, the governor minimized the fact that the state had not achieved a broader outcome during the November talks and assured that “the majority is in control.” “As in any democracy, as in Puerto Rico, the majority rules. This is how democracies around the world work,” he said. In addition, he argued that the November consultations were inclusive and rejected Acevedo Vilá and Natal’s proposals regarding the lack of representation in the said process. “That consultation could not have been more inclusive,” he added.
Before handing over his turn to Velázquez, Hawaii’s congressman Case indicated that while he prefers a state for the island, he felt that the result he got in November was very low compared to that one. in Hawaii and Alaska. “I tend to support the Soto and González project … But I would like to see the support for a state higher. If it were, it would have been much easier,” said the congressman.
At the hearing, Hernández was the only witness who did not receive questions from congressmen.