With a bipartisan vote, the House passed the Puerto Rico Status Act, which would require the people of the US territory to take a vote to decide if it wants to become a state, remain sovereign but aligned with the United States or become an independent nation, the Independent reports.
By a 233-191 vote, with 16 Republicans joining 217 Democrats, the legislation made it through the House; only Republicans voted against it. Republicans want Puerto Rico to stay a non-state because they feel the voters of the island would elect Democrats to the House and Senate, undercutting their undemocratic ways. They may have a point, given the last Republican president botched the response to a major hurricane because he didn’t realize Puerto Rico was part of the United States.
It’s likely to die in the Senate because of that whole thing mentioned above about Republicans not wanting Puerto Rico to have two Democratic Senators, so there will be no combination of ten GOP Senators who would join all the Democrats to pass it. The legislation will die at the end of the term even if the Senate won’t take a floor vote.