The Super Tuesday presidential primary that played out yesterday may have grabbed the national spotlight in recent weeks, but there was another vote taken recently that shined attention on a peculiarly clueless Congresswoman in Florida.
U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite managed to invoke the ire of the entire Puerto Rican community due to her reservations about the proposed economic stimulus package approved on Jan. 29 by the House — and now awaiting U.S. Senate action.
In fact, Brown-Waite, as a result of her lack of wit, became the subject of a resolution approved in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives earlier this week that demands she make a public apology.
And what did this fine solar-baked Caucasian Congresswoman from the Sunshine State do to deserve that dubious recognition?
She argued that any tax breaks provided through the economic stimulus package should be denied to “residents” of Puerto Rico because they are “foreign citizens … who do not pay federal income taxes.” And for good measure, she threw in the good people of Guam as well.
I guess that is what we can expect from our elected leaders in a nation devoted to high-stakes testing devoid of any critical civics education. You see, Puerto Ricans, whether they live in the United States or on the island, are U.S. citizens, and they do pay a boatload of taxes, both local and federal.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico points out the shortcoming in the Congresswoman’s thinking, in the following statement published in the Orlando Sentinel online edition:
”Congresswoman Brown-Waite's statement is infuriating and contradictory as it pertains to four million of her fellow American citizens that live on our island," House Speaker Jose Aponte Hernández said in a press release. "The distorted perception she has of Puerto Ricans is incredible given that she is part of a state with a large population of Hispanics of which close to a million are Puerto Ricans.”
Brown-Waite’s comments also have created a wave of protest within the Puerto Rican community in the United States. The head of the U.S. Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce, reacted similarly, according to a recent article in the Tampa Bay Tribune:
The word "foreign" riled Puerto Ricans "throughout the country," Luis De Rosa, vice president of the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce of South Florida and vice president of the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce of the United States, said in interview Monday.
"We're waiting for an apology," De Rosa said. "The reason why we are upset is (the comment) is sending a very negative message about Puerto Ricans throughout the rest of the country, as though we're illegal. We're not. We have the same dreams."
But Republican Browne-Waite, in a safe congressional district with only an 8 percent Hispanic population, refuses to acknowledge her transgression. After all, playing the race card can be good for getting out the wedge-issue voters.
She issued a “clarification” about her choice of the phrase “foreign citizens” — indicating that maybe “territorial citizens” would somehow be more soothing — but through a spokesman indicated she had no intention to “apologize,” according to press reports.
Well, Browne-Waite may have calculated that such a pig-headed stance would be an astute political move if the only blowback from her ignorant statement was coming from Puerto Rico and a constituency who would never vote for her anyway.
But I suspect she did not put into her formula that among those she offended with her code-word racism are soldiers and law enforcement officials — typically deemed to be the very people Republicans stand on to wave the flag in their re-election bids. That’s right, congresswoman, Puerto Ricans, as U.S. citizens since 1917, have a long history of serving in this nation’s military and law enforcement ranks.
Given this historical reality, what is particularly puzzling about Browne-Waite’s putdown of Puerto Ricans is that she serves as the Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and her husband is a retired New York State trooper. She should know better — and maybe she does, which is even more disturbing.
With that in mind, it is with great pleasure that Narco News shares with you, kind readers, and with Browne-Waite, the reaction of the Federal Hispanic Law Enforcement Officers Association (FHLEOA) to the Congresswoman’s derogatory comments about her fellow U.S. citizens — and the people who risk their lives each day to protect her life.
From FHLEOA:
FHLEOA president Sandalio Gonzalez has scribed an impassioned letter to U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite calling for a public apology. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite’s characterization of residents of Puerto Rico and Guam as “foreign citizens who do not pay taxes” was insensitive and insulting.
Politicians pontificate about our nation’s diversity, but then insult that same diversity.
Puerto Ricans from the Island and from the mainland have paid more than taxes to our nation; they have sacrificed their lives serving in the military and law enforcement.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., stated that over 600 officers on the Memorial Walls are of Hispanic heritage.
Based on a search of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial files, more than half (312) of the Hispanic officers killed in the line of duty served in Puerto Rico.
Additionally, Puerto Rican U.S. citizens have served and died for our nation since the Revolutionary War. Most recently, 33 Puerto Ricans with the military have been killed in Iraq; this figure does not include Puerto Ricans from the mainland.
It is inapprehensible that American citizens from outside conus, i.e.: Puerto Rico and Guam, are treated with such disdain and disrespect. Is it because they are of different color or ethnicity?
This leads us to ask, what does Rep., Ginny Brown-Waite think about U.S. Citizens from American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S.Virgin Islands?
We urge our members and readers to join FHLEOA in demanding a public apology from U.S. Rep. Brown-Wait.
Ruben E. Gonzalez, FHLEOA VP
And here is the letter Sandalio Gonzalez sent directly to U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite:
February 5, 2008
The Honorable Virginia Brown-Waite
414 Cannon House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Representative Brown-Waite:
This letter serves to address the written statement you issued following the recent vote on the President’s economic stimulus legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Your characterization of residents of Puerto Rico and Guam as “foreign citizens who do not pay taxes” was insensitive, insulting, and indicative of a profound ignorance of U.S. history that is difficult to comprehend coming from a Member of the United States Congress (residents of Guam and Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens, fight in our wars, and pay taxes). The subsequent description by your Communications Director of the well-deserved criticism leveled at you from several fronts as “nitpicking” only served to make a bad situation much worse.
The Federal Hispanic Law Enforcement Officers Association (FHLEOA) joins lawmakers from Guam and Puerto Rico in calling for a public apology for your inappropriate behavior in this matter.
Sincerely,
Sandalio Gonzalez
National President
NOTE:
Puerto Rico is classified by the U.S. government as an independent taxation authority by mutual agreement with the U.S. Congress. Contrary to common misconception, residents of Puerto Rico pay U.S. federal taxes: import/export taxes, federal commodity taxes, social security taxes, etc. Most residents do not pay federal income tax but pay federal payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare), and Puerto Rico income taxes. But federal employees, or those who do business with the federal government, Puerto Rico-based corporations that intend to send funds to the U.S. and others also pay federal income taxes. Because the cutoff point for income taxation is lower than that of the U.S. IRS code, and because the per-capita income in Puerto Rico is much lower than the average per-capita income on the mainland, more Puerto Rico residents pay income taxes to the local taxation authority than if the IRS code were applied to the island. Residents are eligible for Social Security benefits upon retirement. But Puerto Rico is excluded from Supplemental Security Income (SSI), receives less than 15% of the Medicaid funding it would be allotted as a state, while Medicare providers receive less-than-full state-like reimbursements for services rendered to beneficiaries in Puerto Rico, even though the latter paid fully into the system.
Tax Guide for Individuals with Income from U.S. Possessions
