I voted no. Immigrants to America are required by law to be proficient in English and to be self-sufficient. Those are good standards for statehood, too, but Puerto Rico fails on both counts. Puerto Rican residents are already U.S. citizens, but they are not subjected to the federal income taxes paid by the rest of us.
Unemployment is rampant and welfare dependency is high.
Many who push statehood for the island have made their motive clear. At the same time, the per capita benefits we'd reap from federal aid programs would be greater than those of any other state in the Union. On top of all this, we'd also have seven or eight Puerto Ricans serving as full voting members of Congress, working up in Washington at all times to help draft and pass new and improved social welfare legislation. . . . If it were a state, Puerto Rico would be absolutely assured of enormous amounts of federal money. I voted no.