Puerto Rico Votes For Statehood

One the bigger stories that I missed on Tuesday:

A slim majority of Puerto Ricans voted Tuesday to approve a nonbinding referendum that would make the island the 51st U.S. state. The measure requires final approval from Congress, so it means little for Puerto Rico right now. Still, nearly 54 percent of Puerto Ricans voted for a change in the U.S. commonwealth’s relationship with the United States — and President Obama promised to uphold their vote in the case of a “clear majority.”

Puerto Rico became a commonwealth in 1917, after Spain ceded the territory at the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens but cannot vote in presidential elections, and their commissioner in the House of Representatives holds limited power. According to the language on the ballot, the statehood referendum would give them “rights, benefits and responsibilities equal to those enjoyed by all other citizens of the states of the union.”

Don't hold your breath. DC has also wanted statehood forever.