[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 6 (Friday, January 6, 2023)]
[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

                        Friday, January 6, 2023

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the District of 
Columbia statehood bill, formally known as the Washington, D.C. 
Admission Act. This bill, which the House passed in the 116th and 117th 
Congresses, is the most important bill I introduce each Congress.
  The nearly 700,000 D.C. residents, who have all the obligations of 
American citizenship, including paying all federal taxes and serving in 
the armed forces, are denied voting representation in Congress and full 
local self-government. This bill would give D.C. residents the voting 
representation in Congress and full local self-government they have 
been denied for more than 220 years. To be content with less than 
statehood is to concede the equality of citizenship that is the 
birthright of D.C. residents as American citizens.
  Congress has a moral obligation and the constitutional authority to 
pass this bill. This country was founded on the principles of no 
taxation without representation and consent of the governed, but D.C. 
residents are taxed without representation and cannot consent to the 
laws under which they, as American citizens, must live.
  This bill would admit the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth 
into the Union and reduce the size of the federal district. The state 
would consist of the residential and commercial portions of present-day 
D.C., and the reduced federal district, which would remain under 
Congress' control, would consist of the Capitol Complex, the White 
House, the Supreme Court, the principal federal monuments and the 
National Mall area.
  This bill complies with the Constitution, including the Admissions 
Clause, the District Clause and the 23rd Amendment.
  The Admissions Clause gives Congress the authority to admit new 
states. All 37 new states were admitted by Congress. No new state was 
admitted by constitutional amendment. No state would have to consent to 
the admission of the State of Washington, D.C.
  The District Clause gives Congress plenary authority over the federal 
district and establishes a maximum size of the federal district. It 
does not establish a minimum size or a location of the federal 
district. Congress reduced the size of the federal district by 30 
percent in 1846.
  The 23rd Amendment allows the federal district to participate in the 
Electoral College. This bill would repeal the enabling act for the 23rd 
Amendment and the 23rd Amendment would be repealed quickly. In any 
event, the 23rd Amendment does not establish a minimum size or a 
location of the federal district.
  The Constitution does not establish any prerequisites for new states, 
but Congress generally has considered three: population and resources, 
support for statehood and commitment to democracy. The State of 
Washington, D.C. would meet each.
  D.C.'s population is larger than that of two states, and the new 
state would be one of six states with a population under one million. 
D.C. pays more federal taxes per capita than any state and pays more 
federal taxes than 23 states. D.C.'s gross domestic product is larger 
than that of 17 states. Eighty-six percent of D.C. residents voted for 
statehood in 2016. In fact, D.C. residents have been fighting for 
voting representation in Congress and local autonomy for more than 220 
years.
  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 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 bill.