Democrat-Led House Bill Would Give Puerto Rico Path to Statehood, Independence

Children walk down a street in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 20, 2020. Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images

A bipartisan group of representatives, although mostly Democrats, unveiled legislation on May 19 that would grant Puerto Rico a path to statehood.

The group, led by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-N.Y.) and joined by Reps. Darren Soto (D-Fla.), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón, a Republican, hopes to end what they have described as Puerto Rico’s “colonial status.”