Anti-higher taxes activist Grover Norquist is joining an effort to convince conservatives to support statehood for Puerto Rico.
Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, is scheduled to appear at a press conference with Luis Fortuno, the former Republican governor of Puerto Rico, in Washington to push statehood for the territory next week.
The group organizing the effort is the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles.
“The group of conservative leaders will call on Congress to pass legislation to allow the people of Puerto Rico to decide their political future among non-territorial and constitutionally valid options,” according to a news release.
Others appearing at the conference include Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention.
“For almost a century, Congress has denied the citizens of Puerto Rico their full constitutional rights,” said Alfonso Aguilar, executive director of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles. “They cannot vote for the president that can send their children to war and they don’t have adequate and proportional representation in Congress. This goes against the most very basic principles of our founding and every constitutional conservative should oppose this undemocratic arrangement.”
Added Aguilar: “Ronald Reagan understood this and that’s why he strongly supported statehood for Puerto Rico.”