Puerto Rican Senate chief off to DC to lobby for referendum bill

The president of Puerto Rico’s Senate will go to Congress this week and lobby for a bill that would allow for a vote on the future of the island’s political status. According to Politico.com:

"Passage in Congress of the Puerto Rico Democracy Act would lead to the first congressionally authorized referendum on statehood in the territory's history

Democrat Kenneth McClintock, president of Puerto Rico's Senate, said he would push mainly for more Democratic support for the bill in Congress.

Introduced in Congress by Rep. José E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) and Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico Luis Fortuno, a Republican, the bill establishing a referendum in Puerto Rico has strong backing in the House. Its 95 co-sponsors include Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) and Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.)".

Three previous plebiscites on Puerto Rico’s status have all come in favor of remaining as a commonwealth though the most recent vote in 1998 supported commonwealth status by default. A report released last year by the White House controversially said that Congress is the only body that can lay down the rules for any future referendums on the island and not the Puerto Ricans themselves.

Image- CNN

Links- politico.com, Wikipedia, electionspuertorico.org, The Latin Americanist, prfaa.org