It appears Washington is trying to pass another fast one by the American people. On Thursday, there will be a vote that could move Puerto Rico towards statehood. If passed, this awards Puerto Rico with the right to 6 US congressmen, 2 senators, and 8 presidential electoral votes

A link to the actual Puerto Rican website and the organization sponsoring the bill:

http://www.hr2499.org/

From the US legislation:

"H.R. 2499 would allow Puerto Rico to conduct a vote on whether the island should retain its current relationship (a commonwealth) with the United States or pursue a different political status. If the vote favored retaining its current political status, Puerto Rico would be authorized to conduct an additional vote every eight years. If the vote favored a different political status, the legislation would allow Puerto Rico to conduct a second vote among three self-determination options (independence, sovereignty in association with the United States, or statehood)."


http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquer...sel=TOC_23025&

Here's a story about the bill:

http://biggovernment.com/taylorking/...to-make-it-so/

About the sponsor of the bill: "As an active Democrat, he endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President and served as Co-Chair of Obama’s campaign in Puerto Rico. Congressman (Pedro R.) Pierluisi is a member of the New Progressive Party in Puerto Rico which advocates statehood for the Island territory. After more than 10 successful years in private law practice, he made the valiant decision to return to public service as the Resident Commissioner. He and Governor Luis Fortuño, both of the New Progressive Party, obtained the largest margin of victory in Puerto Rico in the past 44 years garnering a mandate of over one million votes.

Here's a link to the website about the sponsor of the bill:

http://www.pierluisi.house.gov/english/biography.html