Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this bill. First of all, I would like to thank the gentleman from Washington State and the gentlewoman from New York for yielding me this time. I have been to Puerto Rico three times. The people there have treated me in a very kind way, as kind as any place I have ever been, and I think Puerto Rico is a wonderful place. I served with Governor Fortuno, who is the main proponent of this bill, and Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila before him. I have great respect for and, I hope, friendship with both of those men, but I oppose this bill. The Washington Times said in an editorial yesterday that this is a bad bill, written ``to stack the deck in favor of statehood for Puerto Rico'' and that it ``actually tramples self-determination in favor of an underhanded political power grab.'' Those aren't my words. Those are the words of the Washington Times. The Times' editorial went on to read, ``The bill is deliberately designed to unfairly make it harder for Puerto Rico to keep its current status as a territory with special benefits rather than as a State.'' The fairest way to have a vote on this issue would have been to have a simple, straightforward ballot with three choices--statehood, Commonwealth, or independence. However, the proponents of this bill seem to know that the statehood option would not receive over half of the vote in a fair, simple, straightforward ballot.…”