Reprinted from The Washington Times, March 4, 1998
Debate on Puerto Rico statehood strains GOP
By Nancy E. Roman and Ralph Z. Hallow
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The House today takes up a contentious and heavily lobbied bill that could result in Puerto Rico becoming the nation's 51st state.
After decades of obscurity, the statehood push has unexpectedly mushroomed into a major lobbying war on Capitol Hill, creating new strains in the GOP caucus, igniting a fresh debate on the role of the English language in American culture, and bringing healthy revenues to local newspapers through competing blasts of full-page ads.
"Americans are going to wake up Thursday morning when Puerto Rico is well on its way to becoming the 51st star on the flag and they are going to say, 'Why weren't we consulted?'" Rep. Roger Wicker, Mississippi Republican, said yesterday.
Back home last weekend, Mr. Wicker said he found that most of his constituents had no idea Congress was even considering the idea. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and other bill backers "have misjudged the will and understanding of the American people," he said.
"They don't know enough about this legislation and they don't know it's coming."
That hasn't stopped dozens of K Street lobbying firms from pouring millions of dollars into the fight, enlisting such heavy hitters as former Republican National Chairman Haley Barbour, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, former Christian Coalition Executive Director Ralph Reed and former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes to pitch their cause.
"The word I'm getting is that they are going to finish this bill if they have to stay in until midnight," said James J. Boulet Jr., executive director of English First and a staunch opponent of the bill. "That tells me they want to get this through the House before anyone knows what they're voting on."
The bill, sponsored by House Resources Committee Chairman Don Young, Alaska Republican, calls for a plebiscite this year for the island's 3.8 million residents to decide whether to continue their commonwealth relationship with the United States, seek statehood or declare their independence.
Almost to a person, statehood lobbyists and advocates insist they are simply arguing for self-determination. Opponents have questioned the cost and timing of the move, the power of unions on the island, and the idea of admitting a new state where the overwhelming number of residents speak Spanish, but so far the lobbying war has been disproportionately waged on behalf of statehood.
Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Rosello "is using public resources to hire every lobbyist in town on this issue," a lobbyist for Puerto Rican clients said privately. The forces who prefer Puerto Rico's current commonwealth status "don't control the executive or legislative branch and so [don't] have access to public funds -- and wouldn't use them if [they] did."
Particularly irritating for some House Republicans is the fact that Puerto Ricans on the island contributed $1 million to President Clinton's re-election campaign, compared with $132,000 for GOP nominee Bob Dole. Mr. Clinton supports the Young bill.
So does Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. No politician raised more money in Puerto Rico in 1995-96 than the Massachusetts Democrat -- $93,800 for his own campaign and $95,000 for his Committee for a Democratic Majority, the Boston Globe noted in a story Sunday.
GOP pollster Frank Luntz and Scott Reed, who managed Mr. Dole's campaign, were on the Hill Monday, talking in support of the Young bill with GOP congressional staffers.
Some GOP party leaders are hoping the plebiscite bill will shore up sagging Republican support among Hispanics, but a conservative pro-statehood lobbyist argued it would take a number of stands showing "sensitivity" to Hispanic voters to make a difference over the next few years.
House Rules Committee Chairman Gerald B.H. Solomon, New York Republican, denounced the Young bill as pointless "pandering" to the Hispanic vote.
Mr. Solomon has proposed an amendment to the bill to require that English be recognized as the official language in all 50 states and any new states, an amendment expected to pass, according to a House GOP leadership aide.
But English First's Mr. Boulet said he wasn't sure he could support the Solomon amendment, particularly if it is changed to apply only to Puerto Rico.
"There's a saying: 'Never improve a bill you're trying to kill,'" he said. "Making English the official language of all the states provides tremendous cover for members who then vote for the Young bill."
Even members like Rep. Robert L. Livingston, a Louisiana Republican who has long believed in self-determination, are not sure how they will vote.
"I'm open to expansion," he said. "I do think that from a parochial point of view that Republicans have a right to be concerned if 60 percent of the population is on welfare, if they overwhelmingly elect Democrats ... and threaten the Republican majority."
GOP rank-and-file concerns, coupled with a sense among Republicans that this issue is either unpopular or irrelevant for most voters, have many people asking: Why now?
"We're all trying to figure that out," said John Feehery, a spokesman to Majority Whip Tom DeLay, who supports the bill but has not been pushing for it to come to the floor. "Republicans believe in freedom and self-determination, but a lot of Republicans would prefer that they choose independence."
"I don't think anybody has any idea how much money has flowed from statehood forces in Puerto Rico to push this," said Linda Chavez, a leading Republican Hispanic who has lobbied against statehood. "This is lobbyist-driven."
Mr. Gingrich told his troops last month that the plebiscite bill would come to the floor, noting Mr. Young has pressed for a floor vote. Mr. Young wanted it to be considered this month -- 100 years after Puerto Rico came under U.S. control following the Spanish-American War.
"Don Young has worked extraordinarily hard on this, went before the entire leadership, made his case and made it very convincingly," House Majority Leader Dick Armey said yesterday. "I don't know how it will turn out."Copyright 1998 News World Communications, Inc.
Reprinted with permission of
The Washington Times.
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