A new bill seeking to address the future of Puerto Rico has divided Puerto Rican members of Congress, reflecting a persistent debate over how to approach a vote on the island’s status as a U.S. territory.
Several lawmakers in Congress and in the U.S. territory are opposing a new bill introduced Tuesday by their fellow Puerto Ricans, Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velázquez of New York.
The Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act of 2020 proposes creating a “status convention” made up of delegates elected by Puerto Rican voters who would come up with a long-term solution for Puerto Rico’s territorial status — whether that be statehood, independence, a free association or any option other than the current territorial arrangement.
“What the convention negotiates and puts forth would then be voted on in a referendum by the people of Puerto Rico before presentation to the U.S. Congress,” said Ocasio-Cortez and Velázquez in an opinion piece for NBC News Think.
“The key is that this framework would be developed by Puerto Ricans and for Puerto Ricans, not dictated to them like so many previous policies,” Ocasio-Cortez and Velázquez wrote.
Their new bill triggered a backlash from Puerto Rican lawmakers who have long supported statehood for Puerto Rico, mainly because Ocasio-Cortez and Velázquez’s bill is based on the premise that “there isn’t overwhelming support for statehood in Puerto Rico.” Keep Reading>>
