Puerto Rico Daily Sun
Obama in Puerto Rico: What does it mean?
June 13, 2011
By Roberto L. Prats
Much has been said about Obama’s visit today to Puerto Rico. Much more will be said after his departure this afternoon. My generation has never heard “Hail to the Chief” being played in Puerto Rico since President John F. Kennedy came to our shores on December 21, 1961. During my early years campaigning throughout the most remote rural and poor communities in the Island, I can vividly remember how many Puerto Ricans proudly displayed in their humble homes pictures of the founding father of the Commonwealth, Governor Luis Muñoz Marín and John F. Kennedy, alongside their family mementos. I never saw pictures of the other Presidents that came to Puerto Rico before JFK — Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Ike Eisenhower or Harry Truman. Obviously, JFK had a meaning in the lives of all Puerto Ricans.
Since the JFK Administration, all federal matters affecting the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico were referred by Presidential mandate directly to The Office of the President and it has remained as such ever since. But a lot has changed since JFK visited Puerto Rico five decades ago. Over half of our population now lives scattered on the mainland — mostly in New York, Florida, Connecticut, Illinois and Pennsylvania. We have a Puerto Rican appointed by President Obama to the highest judicial bench in the United States, Sonia Sotomayor. We also have a White House Task Force on Puerto Rico that in October 2009, President Obama redirected its focus from a political status-driven Task Force to a policy-oriented apparatus with a new mission — explore possibilities for Puerto Rico beyond the limits of the political status.
Moreover, we must not forget that in June 2008 we had the first true Democratic presidential primary in Puerto Rico’s history. President Obama, then a first-term U.S. Senator, campaigned actively in Puerto Rico. Who can forget seeing the now-President dancing Salsa in the cobblestoned streets of Old San Juan, his political rally on the grounds of El Morro Fortress, his Spanish-speaking TV ads, and his visit to La Fortaleza to meet with then-Commonwealth Governor Acevedo Vilá?
For the first time since JFK, Puerto Rico is no longer an asterisk in The White House. President Obama now has a Puerto Rico agenda which includes a fair road map for real political status deliberation and job creation, economic development, health care, education and energy. That is the context under which I view his visit to Puerto Rico —The Puerto Rico Presidential Agenda.
President Obama’s host of accomplishments with the People of Puerto Rico are plentiful. In 2008, after a lengthy process of consultation with the bipartisan leadership of Commonwealthers and Statehooders, Obama included in the DNC Platform an unprecedented comprehensive plan for Puerto Rico, committing to a firm resolution of our perennial political status dilemma stemming from a serious self-determination process, devoid of the traditional trickeries we have seen from previous Presidents and Governors. He also committed to including Puerto Rico in his health care reform, which he did, and further made a promise to have Puerto Rico be part of the economic policies espoused by his Administration. As you travel around the island you see a proliferation of signs along the highways, municipal roads, bridges and other important infrastructure projects that say “Construido con Fondos ARRA.” That is the more than $6 billion dollars allocated for Puerto Rico under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by President Barack Obama.
Tomorrow, the White House Task Force on Puerto Rico, will convene an Economic Summit at the Conrad Hotel in Condado. This will be the second meeting of the Task Force in Puerto Rico. Again, when have we ever seen a White House so engaged in Puerto Rico? For my generation, those born after JFK’s visit to the Island, this is the first. The policy deliberation menu has been served, now the challenge ahead of us is seeking results. Particularly, in the political status front. The President has presented a political status process that must be embraced by all political parties to break the stalemate that has dominated our status deliberations for decades. It is time to honor President Obamas’ commitment and have a fair process this year in order to resolve the political status question during his term in Office. The President has stepped forward and the ball is in our court.
As we commemorate this historic visit and explore its meaning beyond the fanfare, one uncontested fact is evident. This visit is not an isolated visit of a President to a tropical paradise. This is the visit of a President with a Puerto Rico Agenda like none we have ever seen.
Señor Presidente, Bienvenido a Puerto Rico!
Roberto L. Prats is Chair of the Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
http://www.prdailysun.com/index.php?page=perspectives.article&id=1308028134
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