The Hill

Puerto Rico's top elected leaders are doubling down on their pursuit of statehood, even as bondholders ask Congress and the White House to hold off until debt payments are made. 

Former New York Gov. George Pataki, who represents some of the island's bondholders, said he supports statehood, but only after Puerto Rico's financial woes are solved. 

"People may well push [statehood], but I don't think it will be credible," Pataki said. 

Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón (R), who along with Gov. Ricardo Rosselló is leading the charge for statehood, said statehood and the debt issue are inseparable. 

"Puerto Rico's economic problem is the lack of an economic model," she said. "The territorial condition limits the island's growth opportunities."

Supporters of statehood for Puerto Rico say its territorial status makes it nearly impossible for the island's economy to become self-sustaining. [MORE]