Puerto Rico, the fifty-first state?

                Puerto Rico, the fifty-first state? 

                Puerto Rico has often times come up in the news as possibly becoming the next state to join the union.  Puerto Rico is roughly the size of Connecticut with a population reaching over three million people.  As of now Puerto Rico is a United States Territory.  There are many different benefits that the people of Puerto Rico enjoy.  However there are also many different problem associated with not being the fifty-first state.  Why has Puerto Rico not joined the Union yet though?  The reason is because the people are given the chance to vote and decide to officially join the United States.  So far, they have voted it down every time.  Each time, the voice of the opposition to joining getting quieter.

                First off, as I stated above, Puerto Rico is only a Territory.  This comes with a lot of benefits for the people that reside in Puerto Rico.  They are treated as though they were a state.  By this, I mean that Puerto Rico is left to create a government and enact laws.  The people there enjoy many different benefits that a U.S. citizen living in the states enjoys such as Medicare and Medicaid.  The people of Puerto Rico have been United States citizens since the early 1900s.  The citizens of Puerto Rico have also served in the United States Army since World War I. There are a lot of downfalls to not being a part of the union.  There are caps to the amount of money that they receive.  This past year we witnessed Puerto Rico say that they could not pay for their debts, seeing a similarity to Greece.

                Personally, I think that it would be in the best interest of Puerto Rico to join the United States and become the fifty-first state.  This would open up a large amount of tax aid to the money strapped area.  This would also help Puerto Rico combat the crime that it sees there while also increasing the amount of tourism that it would see.  With the newness of a state being added and so many people being curious about this new area, I think that many people would flock to Puerto Rico to get a glimpse themselves.

                One of the biggest things that would help Puerto Rico if they joined the union would be representation in the United States government.  Currently Puerto Rico only has one person that is elected to the House.  However, that person does not have any voting privileges for any bills.  That person does not have a real say in what happens with Puerto Rico or anything that happens in the United States itself.  They are in a state of limbo you could say.  We would see at least two new senators and one new house member.  This does not sound like a lot, but I think that this could change the way that things are right now.  Maybe these newly elected members could bring in fresh ideas and some new good to the system that is filled with polarization and the lack of getting anything done right now.

                I think that we will see the fifty-first state in our lifetime.  I cannot say for certain when it will happen, but I think that it will happen eventually.  It will be just a matter of when.

Zackary Ledlow