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The News & Observer "House OKs Puerto Rico plebiscite on statehood" FROM WIRE REPORTS (03/05/98, Copyright 1998) WASHINGTON -- Handing Puerto Rico its best chance ever to become the 51st state, the House of Representatives on Wednesday narrowly authorized islanders to vote on whether they want to join the Union, seek independence or retain their status as a U.S. commonwealth. The 209-208 cliffhanger vote capped a lively 12-hour debate in which lawmakers forgot party loyalty, forged unlikely alliances and probed the tender issues of biculturalism and what it means to be American. The debate centered on the notion of English as a national glue versus the role of Spanish in preserving a distinct culture. The bill now goes to the Senate, where its prospects are uncertain. Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., this week said elliptically that he did not foresee devoting much Senate time to a debate on Puerto Rico. After Wednesday's House vote, however, lobbying in the Senate no doubt will intensify and may increase the pressure on Lott for further action. Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee, has promised to hold hearings on the bill on the condition that the Clinton administration formally state its position. "What we've said in the past, and we continue to say, is that if we can get a House bill over here and we can couple that with an administration position, then we intend to hold a hearing in our committee," Derek Jumper, a spokesman for Murkowski, said late Wednesday. President Clinton and most Democratic senators support the bill. Clinton, in a statement after the vote, called it "a victory for democracy and against exclusion." He praised the bill, saying it "does not impose onerous, unworkable, unprecedented, or unconstitutional language requirements on the citizens of Puerto Rico." The bill had the strong backing of Clinton and both GOP and Democratic House leaders. All but 43 Republicans voted against it and all but 31 Democrats voted for it. Among the North Carolina delegation, all the Democrats voted in favor of the bill except Rep. Mike McIntyre of Fayetteville, who joined all the state's Republicans in opposing it.} Statehood backers received a big boost when the House rejected a proposal by Rep. Gerald Solomon, R-N.Y., to require that the predominantly Spanish-speaking territory teach schoolchildren in English. The proposal was widely seen as a "poison pill" aimed at making Puerto Ricans reject statehood. Instead, lawmakers approved an amendment by Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., that said there would be no special language requirements for a state of Puerto Rico that do not apply elsewhere in the nation. That amendment passed 265-153. The legislation noted, however, that "it is in the best interest for the Nation of Puerto Rico to promote the teaching of English as the language of opportunity and empowerment," and urged it to make students proficient in English by age 10. The House rejected an effort by Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., to allow Puerto Ricans now living in the 50 states to vote in the special referendum. Serrano's amendment was shot down 356-57. Wednesday's vote paved the way for the first-ever congressionally sanctioned vote in Puerto Rico on its status. Previous plebiscites have been at the initiative of the local government, and never with a federal commitment to take action to implement Puerto Ricans' choice. Under the House plan, Puerto Ricans would have until the end of this year to hold a plebiscite and choose its status. The year is of symbolic importance to many islanders as it marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S. capture of Puerto Rico as booty in the Spanish-American War. If Puerto Ricans opt for statehood, the bill gives Clinton six months to draft a 10-year transition plan, which would then be subject to congressional approval within 120 days. Congress and the citizens of Puerto Rico each would have two votes - on the transition plan and on final accession as a state - before the island acquired the 51st star in 2008. Advocates of the bill said they were determined to end a "colonial" status for Puerto Rico, under which residents hold U.S. citizenship, receive federal welfare and serve in U.S. wars, but pay no income tax, have no voting representation in Congress and cannot vote for president. Serrano, a New York Democrat who was born on the island, said Congress' commitment to respect the plebiscite is all that matters. "I don't care if statehood wins. I don't care if independence wins," he said. "I do care every morning when I wake up and know that the children of Puerto Rico are members of a colony." But critics - including those who favor the commonwealth or independence - charged that the bill introduced by Rep. Bill Young, R-Alaska, was weighted in favor of statehood. The options laid out in the bill, they said, sought to frighten Puerto Ricans that they might lose their U.S. citizenship if they continue to support the commonwealth. Young took to the House floor Wednesday on behalf of the statehood vote by Puerto Ricans. "We should go forth and show the people of America, show the people of Puerto Rico that our hearts are true, that the rest of the world will follow our example of the great United States and free their territories and free their people so they can have self determination," Young said. Young said he feels an affinity for Puerto Ricans because of Alaska's own fight for statehood four decades ago. "As the only representative from Alaska - a state that made the transition from territorial status to full self-government - I know that the process does work," Young said last year when introducing his bill calling for the Puerto Rico plebiscite. The planned plebiscite could not come at a better time for the backers of statehood. Both houses of Puerto Rico's government have pro-statehood majorities, and the popular governor, Pedro Rossello, is a vigorous champion. Still, islanders have never voted for statehood. In the last plebiscite, in 1993, supporters of the commonwealth narrowly prevailed at 48.6 percent over statehooders at 46.3 percent, with 4.4 percent favoring independence. Wednesday's debate turned Washington's establishment topsy-turvy. Statehood opponents forged an unusual alliance in which conservative Republicans sought to torpedo the bill by making English the official language for Puerto Rico, while liberal Puerto Rican Democrats tried to bring the bill down by designating Spanish as the island's official language. Republican and Democratic whips tossed up their hands, as lawmakers defied their chains of command and voted their best impulses. [Photo Caption: Carlos Romero-Barcelo, left, resident commissioner of Puerto Rico, and Edison Misla, speaker of the house, embrace after Congress passed a bill authorizing a plebiscite on statehood for the island commonwealth.; Credit: The Associated Press ]
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