Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) signed on to the Puerto Rico Standing Act this week, The Hill has discovered, turning into the a hundredth sponsor of the invoice.
The laws would authorize a federally sponsored plebiscite for Puerto Ricans to resolve its political standing, with a selection of independence, statehood or sovereignty in free affiliation with the US. Companion laws within the Senate has help from 27 senators.
Mills’s addition to the laws comes because the island territory has been thrust into the middle of controversy within the top of election season after comic Tony Hinchcliffe known as Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” at former President Trump’s Madison Sq. Backyard rally on Sunday.
However Mills’s workplace stated his resolution to hitch the invoice was unrelated to the latest controversy and that he was contemplating becoming a member of earlier than the comic’s feedback.
“I am honored to support the Puerto Rico Status Act as the 100th co-sponsor of HR 2757, which upholds the right of U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico to participate in a self-determination process,” Mills instructed The Hill in an announcement. “This legislation is a significant step forward, authorizing a federally sponsored plebiscite that gives Puerto Ricans the choice between independence, sovereignty in free association with the United States, or statehood.”
A model of the laws within the final Congress had 63 cosponsors and handed the Home in 2022, but it surely stalled within the Senate. Solely 16 Republicans voted in help of the invoice that yr.
Mills is the fifteenth Home Republican to signal on to the 118th Congress’s model, although three of the GOP members who help the invoice are delegates reasonably than full voting representatives.
“I am committed to this bill and look forward to supporting the choice of the Puerto Rican people,” Mills stated. “There has been a strong historic bond between Puerto Rico and the United States. The bottom line is that Puerto Ricans serve in the U.S. military, they deserve at least the option of statehood.”
Puerto Ricans will maintain a nonbinding referendum on Puerto Rico’s standing Nov. 5 on statehood, independence or independence with free affiliation.
A YouGov survey performed Oct. 28 discovered that 59 % of U.S. adults supported making Puerto Rico a U.S. state if its residents voted in favor of it.
