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EL NUEVO DÍA
"He Will Support The Status Preferred By Puerto
Ricans"
by Leonor Mulero
February 26, 2000
Copyright © 2000 EL NUEVO DÍA. All Rights Reserved.
ON BOARD THE GEORGE W. BUSH PLANE- Presidential candidate
George W. Bush supports statehood for Puerto Rico, but until Puerto
Ricans ask for a change on status he supports the present status
free of federal taxes.
The Governor of Texas said that parity in federal programs
entails payment of federal taxes and rejected the idea of a welfare
state. "If you want the first, you have to do the other",
he said during an interview with the correspondents from Puerto
Rico newspapers that accompanied him in his chartered plane from
Dulles Airport to Richmond, Virginia.
Asked if Puerto Ricans should pay taxes under the present status,
Bush said that "no, I do not believe in that. I support the
status quo until Puerto Rico becomes a state or not".
The Texas Governor favors holding another Puerto Rico plebiscite.
"But I don't know if it should be federal or not", Bush
said. He asked reporters for information about the aborted congressional
process of the Young bill that led to a local plebiscite in which
"None of the Above" won.
First, he was asked that, if elected president, he would establish
a plebiscite process for Puerto Rico. Bush answered spontaneously
that "I thought that there was a plebiscite recently in Puerto
Rico", giving the impression that he understood that the
status issue had been addressed.
Bush, displaying a very pleasing personality, considers that
Puerto Ricans have the last word about statehood. "At the
end, the people of Puerto Rico will have the last word about statehood.
The intensity of that desire will have to be decided. But if the
people of Puerto Rico do not want to be a state, it will not be
a state."
The Governor confessed that he does not now have the answer
to the dilemma regarding if it should be Congress or Puerto Ricans
who define the status options for Puerto Rico. The Clinton White
House insists that the federal government should provide Puerto
Ricans the definition of status formulas which are constitutionally
viable. Supporters of the present status do not trust the White
House, because they considered it partial to statehood.
Bush, who spoke in Spanish on occasions, recognized the linguistic
diversity of the United States that he has experienced in Texas.
But he rejected the idea of the United States becoming a bilingual
country, because English is the common language that provides
unity to this nation.
"No. It should not become that [a bilingual nation], because
English is the common denominator. English is a unifying force.
English is quite important, it is part of the great heritage of
this country. All of the various states use many languages. That
is why we need one unifying language," he stated.
The language is one of the aspects that Puerto Ricans have
to consider before a plebiscite. "There are many Spanish
speakers in my state. It is important to emphasize English. A
lot of people in Puerto Rico speak English, as you know.
"But that is just one of the issues about which Puerto
Ricans have to think before a vote", he said when asked about
the theory that a hypothetical state of Puerto Rico would become
a Quebec for the United States.
But Bush opposes the "English Only" movement that
opposes statehood for cultural reasons. To the contrary, it is
"English Plus". "It is important that people learn
English. In addition, I respect the heritage of people, like in
my state, where Spanish "es bien importante" (very important).
Bush said that it is up to Congress to determine the percentage
of votes needed to admit Puerto Rico as a state. "That will
have to be resolved at the federal level, if it is going to be
sufficiently clear for us to consider the will of Puerto Ricans
to join us", Bush said. The possible requirement of a super
majority is one of the obstacles for statehood in Congress.
The Governor is not concerned about the fears of certain Republican
senators who are worried that Puerto Rico would be a poor and
Democratic state. "I do not care about politics, I care about
what is right. For Puerto Rico to be a state would be good",
he stated. Also, Bush promised to work with Congress and Puerto
Rico about the structure of status selection.
He doesn't know yet if, like his father former president George
Bush, he would call for statehood for Puerto Rico in his first
State of the Union address, if elected President in the election
this Fall.
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