Sixty-one percent of Puerto Rico’s electorate want full American statehood. As The Economist notes, “it is still effectively a colony: boricuas are subject to American law even though they cannot vote for president or Congress.”

And for them to become our 51st state, Congress would have to pass a law. Wait, our gridlocked Congress still passes laws?

[T]he Republican-controlled House of Representatives has little incentive to address the topic. According to exit polls, 83% of boricuas on the mainland voted for Barack Obama. Statehood would add two Senate seats and a House delegation of five, the same size as Oregon’s and probably as reliably Democratic.

Unless the island holds another vote that yields a different result, however, Puerto Rico has now officially requested statehood. If Democrats retake the House in 2014, they would be well-advised to try to add a 51st star to the flag.

Works for me.