Florida is currently the state with the largest number of people from Puerto Rico or of Puerto Rico heritage. It overtook New York after Hurricane Maria. For decades before that, however, New York had the largest Puerto Rican population among the 50 states.
Four representatives from New York are cosponsoring HR 1522, the Puerto Rico Statehood Admissions bill. These cosponsors:
Rep. Torres, Ritchie
Rep. Garbarino, Andrew R.
Rep. Katko, John
Rep. Stefanik, Elise M.
Rep. Ritchie Torres
Ritchie Torres won the seat occupied for many years by José E. Serrano. He is a Democrat, and his father is from Puerto Rico.
Torres is a longtime supporter of statehood for Puerto Rico, and he took a clear position after the 2020 referendum: “The people of Puerto Rico have spoken. Congress has a duty to legislate what the people voted for. Period.” he said in a tweet.
Rep. Andrew Garbarino
Andrew Garbarino is a new representative for New York. A Republican, he won his seat with 53% of the vote. He his a member of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a group within Congress committed to bipartisan cooperation. Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, the Resident Commissioner for Puerto Rico, is also a member of this group.
“I firmly believe that what unites us as Americans is more than anything that may divide us. I joined the Problems Solvers Caucus in Congress to break through the gridlock of today’s politics and find commonsense solutions on behalf of Long Islanders,” said Garbarino.
Rep. John Katko
Rep. Katko lived and worked in San Juan, Puerto Rico, before returning to New York. He worked for the Department of Justice, and retired from this service to run for Congress.
Katko, a Republican, has a history of supporting disaster aid for Puerto Rico.Now he is cosponsoring the statehood bill.
Rep. Elise Stefanik
Rep. Stefanik is a longtime supporter of statehood for Puerto Rico, and was a cosponsor for H.R. 4901 and H.R. 6246, earlier admissions bills. She describes her position simply: “They deserve to have a vote on the floor.”
A Republican, Stefanik also worked for disaster aid for Puerto Rico.
We appreciate these Members of Congress. But New York has 27 representatives. If you live in New York, please check and see if your representative is on the list of cosponsors. If so, please thank them.
If not, please write a letter, send an email, or give them a call and let them know you support statehood for Puerto Rico.
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