This is the only vote on the House floor today. It should be up to the citizens of Puerto Rico to vote. So why is the US pushing a slanted proposal to the voters? Puerto Ricans have the right to take up a referendum to consider statehood. They have done so in the past and voted against statehood.

According to Legislative Digest: "As some opponents of the legislation point out, this would mean that Puerto Rico would receive approximately six Members of the House and two Senators to represent them if they receive statehood. If the current limit of 435 House Members were maintained, this would mean that either some states slated to receive new seats following the census would stay at their current levels. According to CRS, this would likely mean that Arizona, Missouri, New York, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington would not receive expected gains in House representation allotments.

"Those who oppose H.R. 2499 contend that there are problematic consequences associated with potential Puerto Rican statehood which are not addressed in the bill. For instance, English and Spanish are both official languages in Puerto Rico, and the majority of government business is conducted in Spanish. In addition, Puerto Rican statehood would avail four million residents to certain federal assistance and welfare programs that already operate in the states but are not fully available in Puerto Rico. These new benefits would undoubtedly increase federal spending in Puerto Rico, where the median household income is $18,184 as compared to $35,411 in America's poorest state, Mississippi. Since the legislation would not actually change the current status of Puerto Rico, CBO will not calculate the costs of the possible political options in its score of H.R. 2499."