[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 2 (Monday, January 4, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





           INTRODUCTION OF THE WASHINGTON, D.C. ADMISSION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 4, 2021

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Washington, 
D.C. Admission Act with 202 cosponsors, a record number of original 
cosponsors of the District of Columbia statehood bill. This is the most 
important bill I introduce each Congress, and it made historic strides 
in the last Congress. District residents have always been citizens of 
the United States and pay more federal taxes per capita than the 
residents of any state, but are the only federal income taxpaying 
Americans who do not have full and equal citizenship rights. The denial 
of local control on local matters and of equal representation in 
Congress can be remedied only by statehood. My introduction of this 
bill this Congress comes after this Chamber's historic and decisive 
passage of the Washington, D.C. Admission Act in the 116th Congress. I 
look forward to building on our historic momentum.
  The Washington, D.C. Admission Act creates a state from the eight 
hometown wards of the District. This 51st state, of course, would have 
no jurisdiction over the federal district that now consists of the 
Washington that Members of Congress and visitors associate with the 
capital of our country. The U.S. Capitol, the White House, the U.S. 
Supreme Court, the principal federal monuments, federal buildings and 
grounds and the National Mall would remain in the federal district, 
which would be called the Capital. Our bill provides that the State of 
Washington, Douglass Commonwealth would be equal to the other 50 states 
in all respects, as is always required, and that the residents of the 
State of Washington, D.C. would have all the rights of citizenship, 
including two senators and, initially, one House member.
  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, the House voted on 
the D.C. statehood bill, which was the first time either Chamber had 
done so, with nearly 60 percent of Democrats and one Republican voting 
for the bill. The Senate held a hearing on various approaches to 
representation for D.C., 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 D.C. 
statehood. That was the first congressional hearing on D.C. statehood 
in more than 20 years, since the House held a hearing on statehood in 
1993. In the 113th Congress, we 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 Barack 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 of 
the bill, with 116 in the House and 18 in the Senate, but also a record 
number of cosponsors in the House (181) and Senate (30).
  The 116th Congress, however, represented a turning point in the march 
to D.C. statehood. For the first time in American history, a Chamber of 
Congress voted to make Washington, Douglass Commonwealth the 51st 
state. We introduced the bill with a record number of original 
cosponsors in the House (155) and Senate (28), and had, by far, a 
record number of cosponsors in the House (227), which was more than 
enough to pass the bill with cosponsors alone, and in the Senate (42). 
More than 100 national organizations endorsed the bill.
  The United States is the only democratic country that denies the 
residents of the nation's capital both voting rights in the national 
legislature and local autonomy. We have both the moral obligation and 
legal authority to end this injustice.
  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 
tolerate in their 220th year of fighting 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 nation's founding, District residents have always carried 
all of the obligations of citizenship, including serving in all of the 
nation's wars and payment of federal taxes, all without equal voting 
representation on the floor in either House of Congress or freedom from 
congressional interference in purely local matters.
  D.C. statehood has both the facts and the Constitution on its side. 
The Constitution does not establish any prerequisites for new states, 
but Congress has generally considered three factors in admission 
decisions: resources and population, support for statehood and 
commitment to democracy.
  D.C. pays more federal taxes per capita than any state and pays more 
federal taxes than 22 states. D.C.'s population of 712,000 is larger 
than those of two states, and the new state would be one of seven 
states with a population under one million. D.C.'s budget is larger 
than those of 12 states, and D.C.'s bond rating is higher than those of 
35 states. D.C. has a higher per capita personal income and gross 
domestic product than any state. Eighty-six percent of D.C. residents 
voted for statehood in 2016. In fact, D.C. residents have been fighting 
for voting rights in Congress and local autonomy for 219 years.
  The Constitution's Admissions Clause gives Congress the authority to 
admit new states, and all 37 new states have been admitted by an act of 
Congress. The Constitution's District Clause sets a maximum size of the 
federal district (100 square miles). It does not set a minimum size. 
Congress previously has changed the size of the federal district, 
including reducing it by 30 percent in 1846.
  I seek statehood for the Americans I am honored to represent. At the 
same time, D.C. statehood is deeply personal for me. My great-
grandfather Richard Holmes, who escaped as a slave from a Virginia 
plantation, made it as far as D.C., a walk to freedom but not to equal 
citizenship. For three generations my family has been denied the rights 
other Americans take for granted. There are many other D.C. residents 
like me.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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