File this one under “We Are Not Surprised.” During a Thursday interview with Ángel Rosa on Puerto Rico’s WKAQ 580, the Democrat likely to chair the House Committee on Natural Resources in January, said he does not think that pushing for a “statehood: yes or no” vote is a priority.
“At this point, for the critical urgencies that we have in Puerto Rico, I think the priority has to be other issues, other issues,” Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Arizona) said in Spanish.
Grilajva was responding to a letter that current House Committee on Natural Resources chair Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) sent last month to acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker which called for a federally sponsored political status referendum on statehood for Puerto Rico. The Bishop letter earned quick support from Governor Ricardo Rosselló, a pro-statehood Democrat.
But now that Grijalva is expected to be the new chair, he told WKAQ that any movement on Puerto Rico’s political would also need to include other options, like the current status quo Commonwealth and independence.
“If we are going to seek an opinion that will guide Congress to a decision it has to make at the end of the day, after each status election, then I feel that all options should be presented to the Puerto Rican people in any new election being considered,” he said.
The Arizona Democrat also said that he was never consulted by Bishop about the letter, which lists Grijalva as a Ranking Member of the committee in the letterhead.
This is the complete interview in Spanish.
https://www.facebook.com/wkaq580/videos/576070526154331/
And like we said, Grijalva’s comments don’t surprise at all.
(H/T Primera Hora)
