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Kevin Smith
UWRT 1102
Professor Voltz
10/05/2015
EIP Proposal: A Puerto Rican State
For my extended Inquiry Project I plan on researching the major economical
issues that prevent the island of Puerto Rico from becoming the 51 st state. When you
first assigned this project I had no idea what subject I would choose. I wanted to
research something that would be important to me. My mothers side of the family is
100% Puerto Rican so I decided to go with a topic that my family has recognized. I
also choose this topic because Ive become somewhat interested in politics and Ive
seen multiple TV segments that have discussed the problems Puerto Rico has had
over the years. Instead of forming an opinion from one news outlet I wanted to
research myself to get a full perspective and avoid bias. I do not know much about the
islands political and economic structure. One thing I do know is the economy has
struggled significantly over the past decade. Would becoming a state save the island
and benefit the US? Im not sure but for the last twenty or so years the island has not
been able to pass the legislation necessary to make that process happen.
To guide my research for this topic I propose ten questions; 1. Why has the territory
not become a state? 2. How long would the statehood process take? 3. Would
statehood benefit the US financially? 4. Would statehood benefit PR financially?
5.What would the island bring the the USs economy? 6. What are the benefits of
becoming a state financially? 7. What are the economical effects of statehood? 8.

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Could statehood benefit PR like it did for Hawaii? 9. Are Puerto Ricans against or for
statehood? 10. Are the cultural and language barriers to tall for PR to overcome? I
think I will find the answers to these question by way of articles, books, and personal
interviews with some Puerto Ricans I know. I think the questions that could cause the
most difficulty will be the ones that poll Puerto Ricans opinions on this topic. I doubt
there is a good way to find that answer because their opinions will be based on the
events of the era they lived in.
When it comes to narrowing my subject I would say Im not worried about
being overwhelmed. I did some previous research and Ive realized that there are
specific issues and questions that can be address during this project. To avoid trouble,
Ill try not to get too caught up in the opinionated sources by just using one from each
angle. If im able to address the ten questions asked earlier I feel like I can put a good
piece of work together. If I somehow come up with little information from articles
and online sources Ill go back to square one and contact multiple Puerto Rican
relatives to hear their opinion. My target audience is a large group consisting of all
Americans. Those people are the ones that would be effected by a change in
statehood. In my opinion the United States would only benefit from having 4 million
more tax payers, a prominent vacation/tourist destination and an excellent location in
the Caribbean. Everyone should care about this because I believe Puerto Rico could
be the eastern Hawaii. Hawaii has been beneficial to this country for many years. We
need to give this territory a chance because for the most part they are already part of
our country. I believe both sides would benefit making America a slightly better, more
diverse, and richer country.

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As of right now I plan on just researching the economic failure of the island
and when I search for this information there will probably be a lot available. While
there will be a lot of information I will narrow it done to mistakes the island has made
in the past that is hurting their future. I feel like I will get a lot of information out of
this EIP and Im looking forward to learning more about this beautiful island.