REP. RAÚL GRIJALVA (D–Ariz.), chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, was pissed.
The prominent progressive had just left a July 26 committee meeting on the Puerto Rico Status Act, a legislative compromise negotiated by the territory’s nonvoting House member, Rep. Jenniffer González-Colón of the New Progressive Party (PNP). The bill would allow Puerto Rico to conduct a binding referendum on the island’s status.
It was supposed to be a momentous day for Grijalva, a longtime supporter of Puerto Rican statehood. Instead, he and the bill’s other backers were handed a surprising defeat. Although Grijalva’s committee had approved the bill earlier that week, it was stalled by amendments, keeping it from advancing before the end of the summer session. His
