Why should Republicans pass Puerto Rico self-determination legislation?
• First, it’s a matter of principle as the party has supported Puerto Rico self-determination for over 40 years. • Every Republican president — Eisenhower to Nixon to Ford to Reagan to Bush — has supported Puerto Rico self-determination. • The national Republican Party’s platforms have, since 1972, called for Puerto Rico self-determination. In 1996, it said: “We endorse initiatives of the congressional Republican leadership to provide for Puerto Rico’s smooth transition to statehood if its citizens choose to alter their current status, or to set them on their own path to become an independent nation.” • Finally, as Ralph Reed stated “It’s only fitting that a Republican Congress should give the people of Puerto Rico what so many Republican presidents sought to achieve a way to determine for themselves the government they should have. Give them your support for H.R. 856 and S.
