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HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Statehood Issue Not Dead - Congressman Says Puerto
Rico Has to Change
EDITORIAL
December 16, 1998
©Copyright 1998, Houston Chronicle
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Denouncing the "one-way flow of
federal U.S. dollars" to Puerto Rico , a congressman signaled
growing impatience Tuesday in Washington with the commonwealth
status most Puerto Ricans seemed to favor in a referendum .
The strongly worded statement by Rep. Don Young, coming after
a promise by President Clinton to try to work for change, suggested
that the cause of U.S. statehood for Puerto Rico was not dead
despite its defeat at the polls Sunday.
Puerto Ricans opted "to enjoy the benefits of U.S. tax dollars
while contributing nothing in return," said Young, a Democrat
from Alaska who chairs the House Committee on Resources, which
oversees territorial affairs.
He authored a Puerto Rico status bill last year that passed the
House but was killed by Republicans in the Senate. Opponents of
statehood for Puerto Rico are wary of incorporating a Spanish-
speaking territory into the union.
Young's statement said residents of the semi-autonomous U.S. commonwealth
will eventually have to choose between becoming a U.S. state or
separate sovereignty.
"The days of a virtual one-way flow of U.S. federal dollars
flowing into Puerto Rico as a commonwealth are ending," he
said of the $10 billion a year federal spending on the island.
Puerto Rico Democratic Party leader Anibal Acevedo Vila denounced
the plan as "anti-democratic" and said commonwealthers
would fight for their rights.
"The fight has not finished, the fight is just beginning,"
he told The Associated Press. "The people ofPuerto Rico spoke
clearly, and the whole world understood it: We do not want statehood
, we do not want independence, we want the commonwealth and we
demand a fair process of dialogue about its future."
Statehood received only 47 percent in Sunday's nonbinding referendum
, compared to 50 percent for a "none of the above" option
backed by supporters of the island's existing commonwealth status
. Independence received just 2 percent support.
The arrangement devised in 1952 allows Puerto Rico some trappings
of an independent nation, like an Olympic team, along with the
advantages of U.S. citizenship and billions of dollars in federal
aid.
Click here
for Congressman Young's complete statement.
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