We don’t often think about Puerto Rico, an island in the Caribbean, unless there is a hurricane there, or unless we plan to visit as tourists.
Puerto Rico was acquired by the United States after the Spanish-American War. It’s in the news now because Barack Obama recently made the first official U.S. presidential visit there since John F. Kennedy did so in 1961.
Obama said he supports letting the people of Puerto Rico decide whether they want their island to become the 51st U.S. state, remain a U.S. territory or become independent.
Why is it a hot issue?
Puerto Rico currently has one “non-voting resident commissioner” in the U.S. House of Representatives. But if Puerto Rico became a state, it would add two liberal members to the U.S. Senate and one liberal member to the House of Representatives – and Puerto Ricans would be subject to the U.S. income tax, which they now don’t have to pay.