New York Times

Friday, March 6, 1998

Support Develops in Senate for Puerto Rico Bill
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ

WASHINGTON -- Although the one-vote majority on a House bill to give Puerto Rico a say on statehood gave the measure only a modest boost, pressure began building in the Senate on Thursday to try to stir up interest.

Early this week, Senate Republican majority leader Trent Lott indicated that he had little enthusiasm for the House bill, which passed 209-208 late on Wednesday after one Democrat reversed his vote at the last moment. Logistically, Lott said, it would be difficult bring up a bill because the Senate already has a crowded calendar and senators are working fewer days than normal this year.

"This year statehood issues are issues we are not going to get into," Lott said.

The House bill would pave the way for a congressionally approved referendum in Puerto Rico permitting its residents to choose between independence, statehood and its current commonwealth status. A simple majority vote on statehood would compel Congress to consider the proposal within 10 years.

But on Thursday several key senators -- including Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, the chairman of the committee with jurisdiction on the issue, Energy and Natural Resources -- said they would like to see the House proposal, or a Senate version, considered.

Senate Democratic minority leader Tom Daschle said he had offered to co-sponsor a companion bill with Lott. "I hope we do have a vote," Daschle said. "I hope that it's sooner rather than later. It shouldn't take that long. And I would hope that we could pass it overwhelmingly."

But the senators also made clear that passage would not be easy, considering the close vote in the House and the opposition of many House Republicans. A total of 177 Republicans voted against the measure, expressing concerns on the merits and the costs of statehood, as well as the question of assimilation. Many members said they thought the bill was skewed toward statehood.

Murkowski said on Thursday that he would start with a workshop instead of a more formal hearing. The workshop, his staff said, would allow senators more freedom to debate the merits of a referendum.

"Workshops are a more informal environment and Senator Murkowski believes that a more open environment is necessary to allow them to express their concerns," said Derek Jumper, the spokesman for the resources committee.

Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y., who is running for re-election this year, is also a strong supporter of the House bill. D'Amato has received more money in campaign contributions from Puerto Ricans living on the island than any other senator.

"We're gong to work to bring it to a vote and give the people of Puerto Rico the right of self-determination," D'Amato said.

On the other side of the Capitol, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., a strong advocate of the House bill, said he met on Thursday with his father, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to convince him to back a bill. The Kennedys have been longtime allies of Puerto Rican commonwealth supporters, who oppose the House bill.

"He's almost there," the younger Kennedy said of his father. "I'm working on him."

The House vote on the self-determination bill was the culmination of a four-year crusade by Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who heads the House Resources Committee.

But Republican leaders chose not to drum up support for the bill among the rank and file. Once the bill reached the floor, the debate shifted to a battle over language and whether a Spanish-speaking country should be required to abide by English-only rules in federal offices and public schools.

English First, the lobbying group, got its campaign going at the last minute, Young said. And while the amendment to add the strict language requirement to the bill was defeated, it helped scare a number of members who knew nothing about the Puerto Rico issue until early Wednesday morning, Young said.

Even 17 of the 27 Republicans on Young's committee voted against the bill, which had sailed to the floor with only one of them in opposition.

"A lot of rank and file didn't know what they wanted to do on this," Young said.

Lobbyists on both sides of the Puerto Rico issue clearly have had a field day on Capitol Hill in recent weeks. About two dozen lobbying concerns have spent millions of dollars to push the bill or defeat it, with statehood supporters leading the pack.

Former deputy White House chief-of-staff Harold M. Ickes and former Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour both labored for pro-statehood clients.

And Puerto Ricans have dug deep into their pockets for this year's elections. National party committees and members of Congress have received more than $500,000 in campaign contributions from resident of the island commonwealth.

As U.S. citizens, residents of Puerto Rico can contribute to election campaigns in the United States.