[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 1 (Thursday, January 3, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E6]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





           INTRODUCTION OF THE WASHINGTON, D.C. ADMISSION ACT

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 3, 2019

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Washington, 
D.C. Admission Act with 156 original cosponsors, a record number. This 
is the most important bill I introduce each Congress. District of 
Columbia residents have always been citizens of the United States, 
ranking number one in federal taxes per capita that support the federal 
government, but are the only federal income taxpaying Americans who do 
not have full and equal citizenship rights. The denial of local control 
of local matters and of equal representation in the Congress can be 
remedied only by statehood.
  Therefore, I am introducing the Washington, D.C. Admission Act to 
create a state from essentially the eight home-town wards of the 
District. This 51st state, of course, would have no jurisdiction over 
the federal enclave that now consists of the Washington that Members of 
Congress and visitors associate with the capital of our country. The 
U.S. Capitol Complex, the principal federal monuments, federal 
buildings and grounds, the National Mall, the White House, and other 
federal property here would remain under federal jurisdiction. Our bill 
provides that the State of Washington, D.C. would be equal to the other 
50 states in all respects, as is always required, and that the 
residents of Washington, D.C. would have all the rights of citizenship, 
including two senators and, initially, one House member. The District 
recognizes that it can enter the Union only on an equal basis, and is 
prepared to do so.
  A substantially similar version of the Washington, D.C. Admission Act 
was the first bill I introduced after I was first sworn in as a Member 
of Congress in the 102nd Congress in 1991. Our first try for statehood 
received significant support in the House. In 1993, we got the first 
and only vote on statehood for the District, with nearly 60 percent of 
Democrats and one Republican voting for the bill. The Senate held a 
hearing on various approaches to representation, but the committee of 
jurisdiction did not proceed further. In the 113th Congress, our 
statehood bill got unprecedented momentum with the Senate's first-ever 
hearing on statehood, which was the first congressional hearing held on 
statehood in more than 20 years, since the House held its hearing on 
statehood in 1993, and obtained a record number of cosponsors in the 
House and Senate, including then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, as 
well as the other top three Democratic leaders in the Senate. In 
addition, then-President Obama endorsed D.C. statehood in a public 
forum before the statehood hearing was held. In the 115th Congress, not 
only was there a record number of original cosponsors in the House 
(116) and Senate (18), but also a record number of cosponsors in the 
House (181) and Senate (30).
  Statehood is the only solution for full and equal citizenship rights 
for residents of the District. To be content with less than statehood 
is to concede the equality of citizenship that is the birthright of our 
residents as citizens of the United States. That is a concession no 
American citizen has ever made, and one that D.C. residents will not 
make as they approach the 218th year in their fight for equal treatment 
in their country. This bill reaffirms our determination to obtain each 
and every right enjoyed by citizens of the United States, by becoming 
the 51st State in the Union.
  Since the founding of the nation, District residents have always 
carried all the obligations of citizenship, including serving in all of 
the nation's wars and payment of federal taxes, all without voting 
representation on the floor in either house of Congress or freedom from 
congressional interference in purely local matters.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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