It took six decades and many attempts before Congress passed a statehood bill and admitted New Mexico to the union in 1912.
That is cause for optimism, said Sen. Martin Heinrich, who right now is thinking about the future of Puerto Rico. The Caribbean island of a little more than 3 million people has been a territory of the U.S. since 1917, despite repeated pushes for autonomy.
“I think these things … seem impossible until they’re not. And that was certainly our experience in New Mexico statehood,” the Democrat said at a news conference Wednesday.
