House Passes Bill to ‘Decolonize’ Puerto Rico in Lame Duck Session
Jacob Bliss 15 Dec 2022 Washington, DC
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill during its lame-duck session Thursday in a last-ditch effort to allow Puerto Rico to “decolonize.”
The bill, which passed 233-191 with support from 16 Republicans and has very little chance of passing the Senate, would allow the U.S. territory to hold a first-ever binding referendum on whether to become a state or gain independence. It would ultimately offer the Puerto Rico voters three options: statehood, independence, or independence with free association.
The outgoing House Natural Resources Committee chairman who oversees the affairs of U.S. territories, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), said, “It is crucial to me that any proposal in Congress to decolonize Puerto Rico be informed and led by Puerto Ricans.”
The Associated Press explained:
The proposal would commit Congress to accept Puerto Rico into the United States as the 51st state if voters on the island approved it. Voters also could choose outright independence or independence with free association, whose terms would be defined following negotiations over foreign affairs, U.S. citizenship and use of the U.S. dollar.
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The proposal of a binding referendum has exasperated many on an island that already has held seven nonbinding referendums on its political status, with no overwhelming majority emerging. The last referendum was held in November 2020, with 53% of votes for statehood and 47% against, with only a little more than half of registered voters participating.
The proposed binding referendum would be the first time that Puerto Rico’s current status as a U.S. commonwealth is not included as an option, a blow to the main opposition Popular Democratic Party, which upholds the status quo.
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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/12/15/house-passes-bill-decolonize-puerto-rico-lame-duck-session/