ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF
PUERTO RICO STATEHOOD
"What would be the benefits of the statehood option? From an investor's point of view, Puerto Rico would benefit from statehood. Statehood would establish permanent and predictable 'rules of the game," which attract investors and which are now lacking. In making a choice, the investor would compare Puerto Rico with Florida, Arizona, Mississippi, etc. and not with the Dominican Republic or Chile. Puerto Rico would be integrated with domestic operations and not relegated to the international division."
– J. Tomas Hexner, Statement before Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, May 19, 1998.
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GOP MUST EMBRACE HISPANIC VOTERS; PUERTO RICO SELF-DETERMINATION ISSUE IMPORTANT TO PARTY'S FUTURE
Republicans need to shore up support among the nation's fast-growing Hispanic population by letting Puerto Ricans vote on whether the island should become a state, according to two new GOP surveys conducted by former Reagan pollster, Dr. Richard Wirthlin.
THREAT TO GOOD SENSE, NOT ENGLISH
The voters of California will soon be asked to join the movement that gives voice to the lunatic notion that English is a threatened language.
Congress itself has recently manifested this paranoia in votes to make statehood for Puerto Rico contingent on the good people of that island taking steps to stamp out Spanish as the cultural instrument of their very identity. This insult to Puerto Rico is, I suppose, the Republicans' strange way of ingratiating themselves to Hispanic voters, the nation's fastest-growing political bloc.
All this foolishness flies in the face of two obvious realities. English is the least-threatened language on Earth. And the pool of foreign language speakers in America - more diverse than anywhere else - is a great economic strength. Robert Reno, Newsday
U.S. ISLANDS FACE UNCERTAIN FUTURE
GUANICA, Puerto Rico (AP) - A U.S. Navy boat steamed into view, fired off a three-pound gun and sent all of Guanica – Spanish soldiers, townsfolk, stray dogs - scattering for the scrubby green hills.
As simple as that: The U.S. conquest of Puerto Rico had begun.
Today, a McDonald's anchors the top of Calle 25 de Julio, named for that historic July 25 a century ago. And at the foot of this street of pastel houses, facing the sleepy Caribbean harbor where the Americans arrived, a young man lounged on his porch one recent noon, a sun-bleached Stars and Stripes tacked to the wall behind him, and told a visitor what many in Guanica envision for Puerto Rico.
"I want my beautiful island to become one of the states of the United States of America," declared Efrem Cancel-Millan.
As simple as that: The 51st state in the 21st century.
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Marcos Rodriguez-Ema, President of the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico, accompanied by Xenia Velez Silva, Secretary of the Treasury, testifying at senate hearings on the cost implications of Puerto Rico status options
LOTT SHOULD GET OUT OF THE WAY, LET PUERTO RICANS VOTE ON FUTURE
Puerto Ricans deserve a chance to decide if they want to be full-fledged Americans, paying federal income taxes and electing their fair share of U.S. senators and representatives. To deny Puerto Ricans a vote on choosing whether to become a state, as the stubborn Sen. Trent Lott has been doing, is to denigrate their 100 years of paying dues as U.S. citizens without full rights and responsibilities. Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale) Editorial
ROSARIO FERRE COMMITTED HER OUTRAGE: SHE BEGAN WRITING IN ENGLISH. TO COMPOUND HER CRIME, FERRE NEXT CAME OUT FOR STATEHOOD.
Why did Ferre convert from 1972 "independentista" to 1998 statehooder? Because, Americans may finally be willing to accept a Spanish-speaking state, she said. "The U.S. has evolved enormously in 26 years."
In fact, while some here fear a takeover by English, Ferre sees another kind of conquest under way. "Eventually I think the United States will have Spanish as a second language," she said. "It will begin in states like Florida, like California. But eventually, I think Spanish will be mandatory in all U.S. schools. Charles J. Hanley, AP ONLINE
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