According to the study, "If Puerto Rico had been a state in 1995, the U.S. Treasury would have saved at least $2.1 billion."

Rossello also pointed to his efforts over the past five years to prepare Puerto Rico for statehood through the reform of health care, education and the judicial system in Puerto Rico.

Although the governor himself was very clear in his assertion that statehood is the preferred solution to the dilemma, many in the audience did not agree.

Tensions ran high as one member of the audience, who was loudly asserting his opinions on Puerto Rican sovereignty, refused to relinquish the microphone set up for questions until an IOP official threatened to call security.

The room seemed to become a contest between the applause for statements supporting statehood and those supporting sovereignty.

"With statehood, they would just become another part of the U.S. What kind of sovereignty is that?" asked Hector Arce, a student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, after watching the speech.