Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has vowed to make Puerto Rico America’s fifty-first state if he becomes President, the commonwealth’s governor claims.

Speaking with reporters at a Republican National Convention event sponsored by the Hispanic Leadership Network, Governor Luis Fortuño told The Daily Caller, “He [Romney] looked me straight in the eye and he told me that he was convinced that Puerto Ricans had contributed to the nation for so long, yet we were not partaking fully in the responsibilities and benefits of our citizenship, and that it was about time that we decide what we want to do, and should that be statehood that he would provide the leadership necessary to move that forward.”

The Republican Fortuño, who supports statehood for Puerto Rico, was hesitant to predict the final outcome of the process.

“Until Puerto Rican voters ask for it, there’s not much more we can say about this. Puerto Rican voters so far have not voted for statehood. So until that happens, it is — it will be unfair to characterize ahead of time what will Congress do,” he said.

“What I can tell you is — and I served for four years in Congress — what I can tell you is that they’ll be open to a request that is supported by a majority of voters. But that has not happened before, so it will be up to the voters in Puerto Rico to request statehood. And then we can move on to the next stage.”

Speaking later with Fox News Latino, Governor Fortuño said Romney also promised to make Puerto Rico a part of job creation programs and protect its borders against drug traffickers.

Governor Fortuño also spoke highly of Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan.

“I’m convinced he will be a tremendous help to Gov. Romney next year in commencing to balance our budget, lower taxes and simplify our tax system,” Fortuño said.

For the original report go to http://www.therightperspective.org/2012/08/30/romney-vows-puerto-rican-statehood-gov/

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