Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association
[2][failed verification][3][failed verification] The organization was constituted to promote the discussion of Puerto Rico's political status dilemma in mainland United States colleges and universities, promote statehood for America's largest territory and facilitate absentee balloting in the islands' elections for the estimated 15,000 young voting residents of Puerto Rico registered in college campuses throughout the states and Washington, DC.
[4] Among founding PRSSA leaders, Tulane University student Pedro Pierluisi went on to become Attorney General and Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico,[6] George Washington University student José Rodríguez Suárez went on to become Puerto Rico's Under Secretary of State under three Secretaries of State, Baltasar Corrada del Rio, Norma Burgos and Kenneth McClintock, and José Jaime Pierluisi became Governor Pedro Rosselló's Economic Advisor prior to his untimely death in 1994.
Other PRSSA founding members who have been prominent in later life include Francisco Cimadevilla, former Editor-in-Chief at Casiano Communications and current advisor to Gov.
[4] The PRSSA was dormant from 1981 until 1993, when another group of pro-statehood students led by Oreste R. Ramos, Rogelio Carrasquillo, Roberto Velázquez, Jorge E. Souss, Juan Carlos Galá and Mario Gaztambide reactivated the Association.
[7] On that same year, Javier Aguilú, an undergraduate student at the University of Central Florida, joined forces and helped the organization gain momentum.
[8][9] Raúl Vidal y Sepulveda, enrolled at American University's Washington College of Law, began serving as the sixth president in June 2009 and has organized a campaign in support of HR 2499, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009.
On March 9, 2008, the day of the primary, the PRSSA websites provided live results to thousands of people throughout the United States and Puerto Rico and received more than 30,000 visits.
[15] The Puerto Rico State Elections Commission reported in September 2008 that over 200,000 students registered to vote for the first time, a result of the efforts by the PRSSA and other pro-statehood organizations.
Jeffrey Farrow, former co-chair of President Bill Clinton's Working Group on Puerto Rico and former Congressman Robert García of New York also attended the event.
[19] The reception provided an opportunity for the young statehooders to begin collaboration with elected officials, professionals, and academics for the purpose of lobbying for a self-determination bill in Congress.
[21] In addition, the chapter at Florida International University hosted a lecture by Maurice Ferré on Puerto Rico and its role in the United States.
[22] The PRSSA has been actively promoting The Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009, HR 2499 by directly appealing to the members of Congress through meetings and talks.
As part of its ongoing lobbying effort in Congress, in May the PRSSA acquired Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman's support of Congressman Pedro Pierluisi's 2009 status bill.
