Territories Vs. Statehood II

Editor, Times-Union:

In my previous letter to the editor I briefly outlined my proposed new rule for the admission of new states into the Union, that being the following:

“Wyoming and Rhode Island Rule for Admission of New States to the Union. Any new state being admitted to the Union should be at least equal or roughly equal to* or greater than the lowest populated state of the Union and the smallest sized state of the Union which are currently the states of Wyoming and Rhode Island.”

This naturally brings us to the subject of our five remaining U.S. territories: Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa and their prospects for statehood, voting rights in the general presidential election and representation in Congress.

But first some brief background information. The residents of Puerto Rico, U.S Virgin Islands, Guam and Northern Mariana Islands are U.S. citizens. Residents of American Samoa are classified as U.S nationals unless one of their parents is an American citizen. All five territories participate in the presidential primaries but not the general election; since they are territories and not states they cannot cast electoral votes. All five territories have nonvoting delegates in the House of Representatives who can participate in committee hearings but cannot cast a final vote on the house floor.

If the Wyoming and Rhode Island rule for statehood is adopted, the only territory eligible for statehood would be Puerto Rico, leaving the other four territories as permanent territories. Puerto Rico has been a territory of the U.S since 1898 and it is uncertain if and when it will become a state. If these territories choose to remain a part of the U.S., then a solution similar to the 23rd amendment should be adopted which allows residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in the general presidential election.

My next letter on this subject will outline a proposed constitutional amendment granting voting rights and representation in congress for U.S. territories.

Alexander Houze

Leesburg