As Puerto Rico grapples with a debt crisis, its governor is pushing Congress for statehood — a move that, contrary to critics, he says is necessary to solving the territory's debilitating money woes, NBC News reported.
“We recognize there is a debt problem, we’re dealing with it," Gov. Ricardo Rosselló told NBC Wednesday. "But trying to say, ‘Hey guys, work on that and come back to us,’ is kind of ignoring the root cause of the problem, which is colonialism.”
After a June vote yielded 97 percent support for statehood, albeit with record low turnout, Rosselló has been laying the groundwork in Washington for a delegation to pressure Congress on Puerto Rican statehood.
Rosselló interpreted vague comments from White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer as in support of statehood, but he needs top Republican backers to move the question forward before a busy Congress that goes on break soon.
Photo Credit: Carlos Giusti/AP Photo
from NBC New York - Top Stories http://ift.tt/2u2wRby
source IFTTT
