Puerto Rico prepares to sell Congress on statehood

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said after the island’s Sunday referendum on statehood that he would start taking steps to pitch the Congress on the idea of passing legislation to make Puerto Rico the 51st state.

“Today Puerto Ricans are sending a strong and clear message to the world, claiming equal rights as American citizens,” Rossello said Sunday in a statement released Monday. “It is now up to us to bring those results to Washington with the force of a democratic exercise, supervised by a National and International Observer Mission, which has validated the process as properly organized, just and democratic.”