爱华网11月6日，大多数波多黎各人表示，他们希望改变波多黎各岛的政治地位。
华盛顿——美国起初是一个由13个前英属殖民地组成的联邦。美国的州名册两个世纪以来不断扩增，现有50个州，但这种情况有可能发生变化。
自1898年以来，波多黎各一直作为美国的未并入领土存在。波多黎各公民拥有美国公民身份，而且可以在整个美国自由迁移。他们受美国联邦法律约束，并缴纳美国的一些税费，但在美国国会没有投票权。经过几十年对波多黎各岛的政治地位的讨论，54%的波多黎各人在11月6日的全民公投中对该岛的现状表示不满意。
这次全民公投分为两部分，要求选民投票选择，如果该岛的政治地位发生改变，他们是倾向于选择建州、独立还是将给予该岛更多自治权的“主权自由联盟”。在将近178万选民中，近80万人（61%）选择建州；约43.7万人选择建立主权自由联盟；72,560人投票选择独立；未表达意愿的人有将近50万。
12月3日，白宫新闻秘书杰伊·卡尼（JayCarney）对新闻记者表示，这一投票结果表明“波多黎各人民已经明确表示他们想要解决该岛的政治地位问题”。卡尼建议美国国会“仔细研究投票结果，并为波多黎各人民提供一条清晰的前进道路，阐明波多黎各人能够自己决定其地位的途径”。
波多黎各若要成为美国的第51个州，必须获得美国参众两院多数票的批准。《美国宪法》第四条第三款简明地规定国会有权准许新州加入联邦，只要他们保证给予现有50个州“完全的信赖和尊重”。这意味着波多黎各将必须承认美国其他州认可的法律契约、婚姻和刑事裁决。
建州之路并不平坦。在哥伦比亚特区（District ofColumbia），大多数居民已经一再表示希望在国会获得投票权。与波多黎各不同，华盛顿哥伦比亚特区的地位问题更加复杂，因为它在1790年被依法定为专属美国国会管辖的国家首都。这一事实给建州制造了特殊的法律障碍，而像波多黎各这样的美国领土则不会面临这种问题。
如何成为美国的一个州
美国最后一次接纳新州是在1959年，当时阿拉斯加和夏威夷正式建州。与上述两个州一样，波多黎各正式成为美国的一个州的要求将遵循在美国从最初的13个前英属殖民地在北美向西扩展的过程中由美国立法者通过的法律先例。
在美国于1783年获得独立后，美国人开始将被称为西北领地（NorthwestTerritory）的大面积土地置于美国的控制之下。这片67万平方公里的地区延伸到大湖区（GreatLakes）南部、俄亥俄河（Ohio River）北部和西部以及密西西比河（MississippiRiver）东部。为了向西扩展，美国的立法者着手阐明接纳西北领地内的区域为美国的州的方式，并且在1787年的《西北法令》（NorthwestOrdinance）中规定，第一项必备资格是至少拥有6万人口。
到1801年年底，西北领地最东边的俄亥俄地区显然很快就要达到6万人口的条件，而且美国国会也通过了《1802年授权法》（EnablingAct of 1802）（也称为《俄亥俄授权法》），为俄亥俄作为平等的联邦成员加入美国确立法律机制。这便成为以后的蓝图。
这项立法要求俄亥俄居民从每1,200人中选出一位代表，参加1802年11月1日的代表大会，代表大会将通过多数票决定俄亥俄人是否能立宪并成立州政府。如果投票结果是“通过”，则代表们会继续“让上述州的人民立宪并成立州政府，只要同样是共和政体，且不令”在合众国其他地方的民选代表政府“反感”。换句话说，俄亥俄州的新领导人不能让自己成为独裁者。
除了制定并通过州宪法，俄亥俄人还被要求在每个城镇预留一定比例的土地供学校使用，并且将出售土地所得的5%用于建设拟议建立的俄亥俄州内的道路。另外，在下一次美国人口普查即1810年人口普查结果出台之前，他们只允许拥有美国众议院的一个席位，普查结果出来之后将会产生更公平的席位配额。
1802年11月29日，代表们批准了俄亥俄州宪法。1803年2月19日，国会认定俄亥俄已经达到《授权法》的要求，并通过立法宣布俄亥俄“已成为美利坚合众国的一个州”。这项立法随后由托马斯·杰斐逊（ThomasJefferson）总统签署。
自1803年以来，成为美国的一个州的法律程序并没有多大改变。这个程序的第一步是由美国的一个领土通过地方投票表明已达成建州的共识，然后正式向美国国会提出申请。它必须起草宪法，建立一个代表制政府，并将其提交美国国会以获得多数票批准。最后，美国总统将签署这项法案，使之成为法律，建立新州。
如果波多黎各人、哥伦比亚特区居民或其他人正在认真考虑建州，那他们应预先被告知，这项决定将是不可逆转的。经历了1860到1861年分离危机和美国南北战争后，美国最高法院于1869年裁定，加入美国联邦便是结成“一种牢不可破的关系”，且《美国宪法》不允许各州单方面脱离联邦。
Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/chinese/article/2013/01/20130102140560.html#ixzz2Gy9skihK
A 51st U.S. State? ItCould Happen
On November 6, a majority of Puerto Ricansindicated that they want to change their island’s politicalstatus.
Washington — The United States began as a union of 13 formerBritish colonies. The state roster, expanding incrementally throughtwo centuries, now stands at 50, but that could change.
Puerto Rico has functioned as an unincorporated U.S. territorysince 1898. Its residents hold U.S. citizenship and can move freelythroughout the United States. They are subject to U.S. federal lawsand pay some U.S. taxes, but lack voting representation in the U.S.Congress. After decades of debate about the island’s politicalstatus, 54 percent of Puerto Ricans indicated they were notsatisfied with the status quo in a November 6 referendum.
The referendum came in two parts, asking voters whetherstatehood, independence or “sovereign free association,” whichwould grant the island more autonomy, would be their preference ifthe island’s political status was changed. Of the nearly 1.78million voters, nearly 800,000 ( 61 percent) of those expressing anopinion chose statehood. About 437,000 chose sovereign freeassociation, and 72,560 voted for independence. Nearly 500,000 didnot express an opinion.
White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters December 3that the results showed “the people of Puerto Rico have made itclear that they want a resolution to the issue of the island’spolitical status,” and he recommended the U.S. Congress “study theresults closely and provide the people of Puerto Rico with a clearpath forward that lays out the means by which Puerto Ricansthemselves can determine their own status.”
For Puerto Rico to become a U.S. state, it would need a majorityvote of approval from both houses of Congress. Article IV, SectionThree of the U.S. Constitution states simply that Congress has thepower to admit new U.S. states, provided that they guarantee "fullfaith and credit" to the now 50 states that already exist. Thatmeans Puerto Rico would have to recognize the legal contracts,marriages and criminal judgments approved by other U.S. states.
The road to statehood is not an easy one. In the District ofColumbia, a majority of residents have repeatedly expressed theirdesire to gain voting representation in Congress. Unlike PuertoRico, the district’s status is complicated by the fact that it wasestablished by statute in 1790 as the national capital under theexclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. That presents peculiarlegal obstacles to statehood that a U.S. territory like Puerto Ricowould not face.
HOW TO BECOME A U.S. STATE
The last time a U.S. state was admitted was in 1959, when theterritories of Alaska and Hawaii became states. As with both ofthose states, a Puerto Rican bid for full membership would draw onlegal precedents passed by U.S. legislators as the United Statesexpanded westward across North America from the 13 original Britishcolonies.
After the United States gained its independence in 1783,Americans began to settle a large area under U.S. control known asthe Northwest Territory. The 670,000-square-kilometer regionextended south of the Great Lakes, north and west of the OhioRiver, and east of the Mississippi River. With the goal of westwardexpansion, U.S. lawmakers began clarifying how areas in theNorthwest Territory could be admitted as U.S. states, and decidedin the 1787 Northwest Ordinance that the first qualification was tohave a population of at least 60,000 people.
By the end of 1801, it became clear that Ohio, the easternmostpart of the Northwest Territory, would soon meet the 60,000 personthreshold, and the U.S. Congress passed the Enabling Act of 1802(also known at the Ohio Enabling Act) to establish legal mechanismsfor Ohio to join the United States as an equal member of the union.It would serve as the blueprint for the future.
Under that law, Ohio residents were asked to elect onerepresentative for each 1,200 people to a November 1, 1802,convention that would decide by a majority vote if Ohioans wouldwrite a constitution and form a state government. If the vote was“yes,” the delegates would proceed to “form for the people of thesaid State a constitution and State government, provided the sameshall be republican, and not repugnant” to elected representativegovernment elsewhere in the United States. In other words, would-beleaders of Ohio could not set themselves up as autocrats.
In addition to writing and adopting their state’s constitution,the Ohioans also were asked to set aside a certain proportion ofland in each township to be used for schools, and to use 5 percentof revenue from land sales to create roads through their proposedstate. They also were allowed only one member of the U.S. House ofRepresentatives pending the results of the next U.S. census, which would be taken in 1810 andcreate a fairer allocation.
The delegates approved a state constitution on November 29,1802. On February 19, 1803, Congress determined that Ohio had metthe requirements of the Enabling Act and passed legislationdeclaring Ohio "has become one of the United States of America."The legislation was then signed by President Thomas Jefferson.
The legal process for becoming a U.S. state has not changed muchsince 1803. A U.S. territory begins the process by demonstratingthrough local elections that there is a consensus for statehood,and then it formally petitions the U.S. Congress. It must draft aconstitution creating a representative form of government andsubmit it to the U.S. Congress for majority approval. Finally, theU.S. president would sign the bill into law, creating the newstate.
If Puerto Ricans, D.C. residents or others are thinkingseriously about U.S. statehood, they should be forewarned that itis an irreversible decision. After the 1860–1861 secession crisisand the American Civil War, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1869that joining the United States is “an indissoluble relation” andthe U.S. Constitution does not allow states to leaveunilaterally.
Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2012/12/20121228140484.html#ixzz2GyA4YlA8
