Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has a podcast called “Verdict” in which podcaster Ben Ferguson interviews him on political issues. In the video version above, Cruz speaks on statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.
“They hear this argument on statehood [for D.C. and Puerto Rico]. They’re not being fairly represented,” Ferguson begins, referring to college students who might hear information on taxation without representation for U.S. territories. “Why should we not make sure that they have a voice in Washington, D.C.?”
Cruz begins his answer by explaining that the District of Columbia was designed to be different from the states, so that no state would have the extra power that comes with being the capital of the nation. “If you had a state that was our capital, that state would have advantages that no other state had,” he points out. “The only reason Democrats want D.C. to be a state is because D.C. would immediately become the most liberal state in the union.”
What about Puerto Rico?
“Puerto Rico is a little more complicated,” Cruz continues, “Because Puerto Rico has elected Republicans. The Democrats assume Puerto Rico will elect two Democratic senators.”
He goes on to say that Republicans would campaign “vigorously” in Puerto Rico if it becomes a state. “But look, it’s a territory. It has a different history.”
Some observers believe that making D.C. a state would require a constitutional amendment, though Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) argues that this is not the case.. However, Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, as Cruz points out, like the 32 territories which have already become states. There is no bar to statehood for Puerto Rico under the constitution.
The same old story
At this point, Cruz switches to a narrative that is very common in Congress: he says that the people of Puerto Rico “have long been divided” on what status they prefer. Some want statehood, some want independence, and some, he says, want to remain a “commonwealth.” The story that Congress has not taken action on Puerto Rico’s status because they are waiting for the voters of Puerto Rico to make up their minds has been popular in Congress for decades.
At one time, it was true that Puerto Rico voters were fairly evenly divided between statehood and territory status. Once the fantasy of “enhanced commonwealth” was shown to be unattainable, that changed. A clear majority of Puerto Ricans have voted for statehood in all four status plebiscites held during this century.
Cruz also refers to Puerto Rico with a title that has fallen out of favor. “They’re a commonwealth,” he says. “They get some of the benefits of American citizenship, but yet they’re not fully a state.”
It is true that Puerto Ricans get some — and indeed, many — of the benefits of American citizenship. It is also true that Puerto Rico is not a state. It isn’t quite true that Puerto Rico is “not fully” a state, because it simply is not a state. The Supreme Court has stated that Puerto Rico does not have the dignity and sovereignty of a state and the federal government treats Puerto Rico differently from the states, which are all on an equal footing with one another.
