August 1st 2012
Tommy Ramos and the Olympic Games
Puerto Rico is proud of Tommy Ramos, a Bayamon-born gymnast who has qualified for the Olympic men’s gymnastics rings final to be held on August ... Read more...http://www.puertoricoreport.org/tommy-ramos-and-the-olympic-games/
Tommy Ramos and the Olympic Games
Puerto Rico is proud of Tommy Ramos, a Bayamon-born gymnast who has qualified for the Olympic men’s gymnastics rings final to be held on August 6th in London.
As a native-born Puerto Rican, Tommy Ramos is a U.S. citizen. He could have participated in the Olympics as a member of the U.S. team. Had he done so, he would have been the top finisher in the rings qualification trial for the United States, just as he was for the Puerto Rico.
There are many reasons why Ramos may have chosen to compete on behalf of Puerto Rico instead of the broader U.S. The support back home is certainly passionate. Not every Olympic athlete has the option of playing on two teams; certainly Ramos’s choice was one that most residents of the fifty states simply don’t have.
But does Ramos’s choice also have negative consequences? More broadly, are there drawbacks for Puerto Rico, as a territory, being treated differently than the fifty states? After all, the federal U.S. government has never stopped Puerto Rico or its other territories from competing in the Olympics or even in a beauty pageant – historic sources of pride for the idyllic Island.
Yet Puerto Rico could be ordered to end its Olympic participation by the U.S. federal government because it is a territory. Congress has this power under the U.S. Constitution’s Territory Clause, and Secretary of State Colin Powell used it in 2003, when members of Puerto Rico’s ruling Commonwealth Party (also known as the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico or PDP) contacted numerous Caribbean countries in an attempt to conduct international diplomacy. In a memorandum to the Belize Embassy, Secretary Powell forcefully explained:
The Department is aware that Puerto Rican government officials have approached a number of countries . . . seeking treatment normally only accorded to a sovereign state. The two most recent examples were in Nicaragua and Panama where the Puerto Ricans pressed government officials to sign cooperation agreements which contained language normally reserved for pacts with foreign states. In November 2002, Puerto Rico attempted unsuccessfully to elicit recognition as a sovereign state at the Ibero-American summit in the Dominican Republic. The department reiterates that the U.S. federal government is responsible for Rico’s foreign affairs.
Fortunately for Puerto Rican Olympic enthusiasts, Congress is unlikely to end the territory’s Olympic participation any time soon. So why can’t Puerto Rico have its own special Olympic team and celebrate its uniqueness from the rest of the United States? What would be the harm?
The problem is that Puerto Rico’s Olympic team comes as a package deal with other aspects of its status as a territory. For every Olympic athlete, there is a Puerto Rican living stateside who moves to Puerto Rico only to discover she can no longer vote for President, even if she has children serving in the U.S. armed forces. Puerto Rican veterans not only lack the power to vote for President, but they also are deprived access to the same level of health care given to their fellow soldiers in the fifty states. And, of course, Puerto Rico is does not have full representation in Washington. The territory is inadvertently left out of legislation and purposefully excluded from federal laws that directly impact Puerto Rico, in areas including health care. There are national policies that could help Puerto Rico’s economy and security that the territory simply cannot access. It’s sole, non-voting Resident Commissioner cannot do the work of the six Members of Congress and two Senators Puerto Rico would have as a state.
Penn State is also proud of Tommy Ramos, who is an alumnus of the school. A six-time All-American, Ramos is credited with helping Penn State achieve its NCAA-record setting 12th national championship in 2007 and Big Ten title in 2008.
The word “Commonwealth” has very little meaning but has caused a great deal of confusion. The state where Ramos went to college – Pennsylvania – is often called a Commonwealth. But its legal status is that of a state. Puerto Rico is also referred to as a Commonwealth, but its legal status is that of a territory.
As a Pennsylvanian, Ramos could not participate in a Pennsylvania-only Olympic team. As a Puerto Rican, he can participate in Puerto Rico-only team. But he is not a full participant in his country’s proud democratic tradition, which is on display for the world to see.
As a native-born Puerto Rican, Tommy Ramos is a U.S. citizen. He could have participated in the Olympics as a member of the U.S. team. Had he done so, he would have been the top finisher in the rings qualification trial for the United States, just as he was for the Puerto Rico.
There are many reasons why Ramos may have chosen to compete on behalf of Puerto Rico instead of the broader U.S. The support back home is certainly passionate. Not every Olympic athlete has the option of playing on two teams; certainly Ramos’s choice was one that most residents of the fifty states simply don’t have.
But does Ramos’s choice also have negative consequences? More broadly, are there drawbacks for Puerto Rico, as a territory, being treated differently than the fifty states? After all, the federal U.S. government has never stopped Puerto Rico or its other territories from competing in the Olympics or even in a beauty pageant – historic sources of pride for the idyllic Island.
Yet Puerto Rico could be ordered to end its Olympic participation by the U.S. federal government because it is a territory. Congress has this power under the U.S. Constitution’s Territory Clause, and Secretary of State Colin Powell used it in 2003, when members of Puerto Rico’s ruling Commonwealth Party (also known as the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico or PDP) contacted numerous Caribbean countries in an attempt to conduct international diplomacy. In a memorandum to the Belize Embassy, Secretary Powell forcefully explained:
The Department is aware that Puerto Rican government officials have approached a number of countries . . . seeking treatment normally only accorded to a sovereign state. The two most recent examples were in Nicaragua and Panama where the Puerto Ricans pressed government officials to sign cooperation agreements which contained language normally reserved for pacts with foreign states. In November 2002, Puerto Rico attempted unsuccessfully to elicit recognition as a sovereign state at the Ibero-American summit in the Dominican Republic. The department reiterates that the U.S. federal government is responsible for Rico’s foreign affairs.
Fortunately for Puerto Rican Olympic enthusiasts, Congress is unlikely to end the territory’s Olympic participation any time soon. So why can’t Puerto Rico have its own special Olympic team and celebrate its uniqueness from the rest of the United States? What would be the harm?
The problem is that Puerto Rico’s Olympic team comes as a package deal with other aspects of its status as a territory. For every Olympic athlete, there is a Puerto Rican living stateside who moves to Puerto Rico only to discover she can no longer vote for President, even if she has children serving in the U.S. armed forces. Puerto Rican veterans not only lack the power to vote for President, but they also are deprived access to the same level of health care given to their fellow soldiers in the fifty states. And, of course, Puerto Rico is does not have full representation in Washington. The territory is inadvertently left out of legislation and purposefully excluded from federal laws that directly impact Puerto Rico, in areas including health care. There are national policies that could help Puerto Rico’s economy and security that the territory simply cannot access. It’s sole, non-voting Resident Commissioner cannot do the work of the six Members of Congress and two Senators Puerto Rico would have as a state.
Penn State is also proud of Tommy Ramos, who is an alumnus of the school. A six-time All-American, Ramos is credited with helping Penn State achieve its NCAA-record setting 12th national championship in 2007 and Big Ten title in 2008.
The word “Commonwealth” has very little meaning but has caused a great deal of confusion. The state where Ramos went to college – Pennsylvania – is often called a Commonwealth. But its legal status is that of a state. Puerto Rico is also referred to as a Commonwealth, but its legal status is that of a territory.
As a Pennsylvanian, Ramos could not participate in a Pennsylvania-only Olympic team. As a Puerto Rican, he can participate in Puerto Rico-only team. But he is not a full participant in his country’s proud democratic tradition, which is on display for the world to see.
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