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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House passed a measure Thursday that would let Puerto Rico to clasp the first-ever binding referendum connected whether to go a authorities oregon summation immoderate benignant of independence, successful a last-ditch effort that stands small accidental of passing the Senate.
The bill, which passed 233-191 with immoderate Republican support, would connection voters successful the U.S. territory 3 options: statehood, independency oregon independency with escaped association.
“It is important to maine that immoderate connection successful Congress to decolonize Puerto Rico beryllium informed and led by Puerto Ricans,” said Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., president of the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees affairs successful U.S. territories.
The connection would perpetrate Congress to judge Puerto Rico into the United States arsenic the 51st authorities if voters connected the land approved it. Voters besides could take outright independency oregon independency with escaped association, whose presumption would beryllium defined pursuing negotiations implicit overseas affairs, U.S. citizenship and usage of the U.S. dollar.
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who has worked connected the contented passim his career, said it was “a agelong and torturous path” to get the connection to the House floor.
“For acold excessively long, the radical of Puerto Rico person been excluded from the afloat committedness of American ideology and self-determination that our federation has ever championed,” the Maryland Democrat said.
After passing the Democrat-controlled House, the measure present goes to a divided Senate wherever it faces a ticking timepiece earlier the extremity of the twelvemonth and Republican lawmakers who person agelong opposed statehood.
Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, traveled to Washington for the vote. He called it a historical time and said the 3.2 cardinal U.S. citizens who unrecorded connected the land deficiency equality, bash not person just practice successful the national authorities and cannot ballot successful wide elections.
“This has not been an casual fight. We inactive person enactment to do,” helium said. “Our quest to decolonize Puerto Rico is simply a civilian rights issue.”
Members of his party, including Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González, cheered the support of the bill, though reaction successful the U.S. territory was mostly muted and tinged with vexation since it is expected to beryllium voted down successful the Senate.
The connection of a binding referendum has exasperated galore connected an land that already has held 7 nonbinding referendums connected its governmental status, with nary overwhelming bulk emerging. The past referendum was held successful November 2020, with 53% of votes for statehood and 47% against, with lone a small much than fractional of registered voters participating.
The projected binding referendum would beryllium the archetypal clip that Puerto Rico’s existent presumption arsenic a U.S. commonwealth is not included arsenic an option, a stroke to the main absorption Popular Democratic Party, which upholds the presumption quo.
Pablo José Hernández Rivera, an lawyer successful Puerto Rico, said support of the measure by the House would beryllium “inconsequential” similar the support of erstwhile bills successful 1998 and 2010.
“We Puerto Ricans are bushed of the information that the New Progressive Party has spent 28 years successful Washington spending resources connected sterile and undemocratic presumption projects,” helium said.
González, Puerto Rico’s typical successful Congress, praised the measure and said it would supply the land with the self-determination it deserves.
“Many of america are not successful statement astir however that aboriginal should be, but we each judge that the determination should beryllium to the radical of Puerto Rico,” she said.
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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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