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Esta página no está disponible en español. A Dream Of Statehood…A Few Facts On Puerto Rico, Taxes
A Dream Of Statehood Women Of York: Delma Milan Rivera, Civic Leader/Humanitarian 1929 21 February 2005 York Daily Record Love of people and her heritage remains the motivating force behind Delma Rivera's years of work with the Hispanic community of York. Delma Milan Rivera was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. She received a B.S. in home economics at Inter-American University in San-German, Puerto Rico, and a teaching certification in secondary education from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. Rivera taught home economics, art, science and mathematics before coming to the United States. In 1958, she accompanied her husband, Edwin, to Harrisburg while he completed his internship at Harrisburg Hospital. Rivera, her husband and two daughters established residence in York in 1960. A son was born in 1963. Delma Rivera soon became very aware of the needs and frustrations of the Latino people who had come to York in search of jobs and a better standard of living and found neither. She and her physician- husband often served as counselors, interpreters and advisers to the Latinos lacking alternate resources. Recognizing the unique needs of Latino people, Rivera and a few other concerned Spanish-speaking citizens formed the York Spanish Council. The untiring efforts of this group were rewarded when the first Spanish community center of York, as a component of the Community Progress Council, opened in 1974. Over the years, Delma Rivera has served as secretary and president of the center's advisory board, fund-raising chairman, resource person, and as acting director of the center. She also served on the Governor's Council for Hispanic Affairs, and in that capacity, she visited the White House to meet with George H.W. Bush. Rivera feels it was "God's will" that brought her and her husband to York. With the dream of a Spanish community center a reality, she has yet another dream that of statehood for her beloved Puerto Rico. A Few Facts On Puerto Rico, Taxes LETTERS Emilio Lopez Boca Raton May 1, 2005 Re "For bliss, Puerto Rico tops list" and a letter published on April 17: 1. Puerto Rico has an Internal Revenue Service, which taxes all local residents and corporations at similar or higher brackets than the federal IRS does in mainland USA. The funds collected remain on the island to cover public services and government payrolls, as well as the Puerto Rican National Guard. 2. The Puerto Rican IRS collects from all workers and corporations Social Security and Medicare taxes, which are in turn forwarded to the U.S. coffers. 3. The U.S. government sends back to the island, like it does with every state in the union, around $10 billion, which covers many programs, like Social Security pensions, Medicare health coverage costs (entitlements paid for by the local workers, same as in the mainland) and federal matching funds for certain programs. 4. Puerto Ricans have served in every war and conflict our country has been involved with since World War I. Thousands of lives have given the ultimate sacrifice, same as in the mainland. 5. Puerto Ricans have been under U.S. sovereignty since 1898 (Spanish-American War). It wasn't until 1949 that islanders were given the opportunity to vote for a governor and until 1952 that it could choose a political status. 6. I hope that the 2,000 Puerto Rican National Guard troops currently in Iraq don't read the letter writer's statement that Puerto Ricans should go home. The 3.8 million U.S. citizens who live in Puerto Rico consume American products, which represent the livelihood of a significant amount of workers on the mainland. If Puerto Rico is a paradise, or not, is for the locals to opine. Let's look at the positives; we may learn something.
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