Puerto Rico to become 51st state

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Puerto Rico to become 51st state?

Legislation has been introduced to the U.S. Congress that could make Puerto Rico the 51st state.

CNN reports that Puerto Rico has been a territory of the United States for more than a century.

Now some lawmakers are proposing once again to make Puerto Rico the 51st state. Not everyone in Puerto Rico is keen for this idea.

"Statehood would go against that sense of uniqueness, culture, identity that we do have under commonwealth," Puerto Rican Gov. Anibal Acevedo-Vila said.

"As a U.S. citizen, if you live in Puerto Rico, you are stripped of your rights," Luis Fortuno, Puerto Rico's only non-voting congressman, said.

Acevedo-Vila believes his people are better off the way they are now.

"We are U.S. citizens, we are a commonwealth of the U.S., but we are a nation sociologically. We call ourselves Puerto Ricans. We don't call ourselves Puerto Rican-Americans," Acevedo-Vila said.

Puerto Ricans do not pay taxes and do not vote for U.S. president, but they drain the United States of welfare and unemployment benefits and pay Social Security. Puerto Ricans also serve in the U.S. military.

Fortuno said Puerto Ricans in the U.S. military are why Puerto Rico should become a state.
"We have fought in every single war since the first world war," Fortuno said. "We are proud to be Americans, and we are bound by the same values that actually make us the greatest nation in the world."

"As a senator who represents a lot of Puerto Rican people in this state, I should give them a voice, and I know it's a big deal to the people of Puerto Rico," Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., said.
Martinez said the people of Puerto Rico should decide their own fate.

CNN reports that in August, Martinez introduced a bill to Congress that would set a date for a federally sanctioned vote on the island, which would allow Puerto Ricans to choose between commonwealth status, independence, free association or statehood.

Puerto Ricans have voted on their status before and have rejected statehood.

"I think that Puerto Rico in the future should get a better deal with the U.S. Congress in order for the island to get more power, more autonomy," Acevedo-Vila said.

"We're not asking for any special treatment," Fortuno said. "We just want to participate fully in this experiment. We want to carry our own weight."

Congress will have the last word on the status of Puerto Rico, no matter what the voters on the island decide.

Martinez's bill is now in the hands of a Senate committee. Lawmakers are expected to act on the bill early next year.