On July 25, Puerto Rico observes the anniversary of its local self-government. On that day in 1952, Governor Luis Muñoz Marin formally proclaimed a Constitution for the island,… Read More »The 1952 Puerto Rico Constitution: A New “Commonwealth” in Name Only
One United States President after another has supported statehood for Puerto Rico. In this video, you can hear Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush… Read More »U.S. Presidents Favor Statehood for Puerto Rico
The Republican Party of Puerto Rico is stepping up its outreach to the leadership of the House of Representative to urge action on the November Puerto Rican plebiscite. Members of the Party will join a coalition of forces meeting in Washington today to advocate congressional action on the recent Puerto Rican vote for statehood.
Local Republican outreach to national leaders began immediately after the plebiscite, when party leaders contacted Speaker Boehner (R-OH), Majority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) through a letter noting the plebiscite results in favor of statehood as well as Republican support for Puerto Rican statehood over the years. The letter explains:Read More »Puerto Rican Republican Party Reaches Out to House Leadership
The 113th Congress has passed a formal set of rules to govern debate and consideration of federal legislation, and for the second Congress in a row, delegates of the U.S. territories and District of Columbia will be denied a voice in the House of Representatives. Roughly five million U.S. citizens who reside within the United States, fight in our wars and pay taxes will have no voting representation in the House and no presence at all in the Senate, where they lack Senators.Read More »Hoyer Fights to Give a Voice to All U.S. Citzens
In late December, the Congressional Record reported a little noticed reminder of the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s Concurrent Resolution No. 67,
requesting the President and the Congress to respond diligently and effectively and to act on the demand of the people of Puerto Rico to admit the territory to the Union as a State; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources.Read More »From Australia to Estonia, All Eyes are on Congress
The population of Puerto Rico continues to decline according to recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Government data from July of 2012 show Puerto Rico’s population to be 3,667,084, a decrease of more than 27,000 from 2011 and a reduction of more than 54,000 since 2010. The overall U.S. population increased over the same period.Read More »Puerto Rico’s Population Continues to Decline
Puerto Rico’s police force is the second largest in U.S. states and territories, second in size only to that of New York City. The Puerto Rican police force includes more than 17,000 officers.Read More »Puerto Rico’s Police Force Considers Reforms
Reports on the “Fiscal Cliff Bill” are finding humor in some of the provisions, including the extension of the cover-over subsidies on rum from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Some are reporting this as “a new tax” or a “rum subsidy,” and the Washington Post described it as one “of the more curious tax provisions,”saying, “Most of that money is transferred to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, who use the revenue to support their rum industries.”Read More »The Rum Tax and Puerto Rico
The State Election commission of PuertoRico issued an official preliminary certification of plebiscite results on November 9th, two days after the landmark election in which the people of Puerto Rico voted for the first time to become a state of the United States. The Puerto Rico Report has posted a copy of this document, which can be viewed here.Read More »Certified Results of the Puerto Rican Plebiscite
