Luis Fortuno: “tomorrow the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit will hear the case of Gregorio Igartua-de la Rosa, et…”

“tomorrow the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit will hear the case of Gregorio Igartua-de la Rosa, et al., vs. United States of America. This landmark case deals with the right of U.S. citizens who reside in Puerto Rico to vote for the President and Vice President of the United States. The right to vote for those who govern us is a hallmark of the democratic principles on which our Nation was founded. Universal and equal suffrage is not only a core value of this Nation's political system, but has been recognized by the international community as a fundamental civil right. Despite this broad consensus in favor of the right to vote, U.S. citizens who reside in Puerto Rico have for 88 years been denied the right to vote for the U.S. Government officials who make and administer the Federal laws to which they are subject. Take special heed of the fact that this discriminatory and undemocratic state of affairs does not just apply to Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens by virtue of having been born in a U.S. territory, but to any U.S. citizen who becomes a resident of Puerto Rico. To clearly illustrate this point, if President George Herbert Bush, our 41st President, had chosen to retire in Puerto Rico instead of Texas, he would not have been able to vote for his son, our current President, George W. Bush.…”