ICYMI: Congressman Hoyer Ensures House Passage of H.R. 51, the Washington, DC Admission Act
Wanted to make sure you saw news coverage on H.R. 51, the Washington, DC Admission Act. Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) brought H.R. 51 to the House Floor yesterday and worked hard to secure its passage. The legislation would admit Washington, DC as the 51st state in the Union.
DCist: House Of Representatives Passes D.C. Statehood Bill
"The full House of Representatives voted for HR 51, the bill that would make D.C. a state. All of the 216 votes in favor of the measure came from Democrats, with zero Republicans on board."
"This is the second time in less than a year that the House of Representatives passed a D.C. statehood bill, after last June marked a historic first. Unlike last go-around, though, the Democrats now have control of both the Senate and the White House. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer backs statehood, and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), the lead sponsor on the Senate version of the bill, is calling for a hearing on the measure. (The last Senate hearing on statehood was in 2014.)"
"President Joe Biden said he would sign the bill. A policy statement from the White House earlier this week called on Congress to ‘provide a swift and orderly transition to statehood for the people of Washington, D.C.'"
Maryland Matters: U.S. House Passes D.C. Statehood Bill, But Votes Still Lacking in Senate
"This issue has been tied in to a broader focus on voting rights by national Democrats, who argue that it's fundamentally undemocratic for the 700,000 residents of D.C. to lack a voice in Congress. Not only do residents not have representation in the Senate, Congress can strike down D.C.'s local laws."
"House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), a leading proponent of statehood, said the support of Biden and Schumer is key."
The Washingtonian: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on the Fight for DC Statehood
"I think it's ironic that the United States of America, one of the great democracies of the world, is the only nation in the free world whose citizens that live in the nation's capital don't have a voting member of their parliament. I think that's a very big blot on our democracy. There's no reason why the 700,000 plus people who live in the District of Columbia aren't full, equal citizens with everybody else in the United States."
"If the Republican senators voted on principle—extending to every citizen equal rights and being represented in Congress—I think this would pass. If they vote on politics, I think it's going to be a tough road. But we've made real progress. As I said, last Congress was the first time a statehood bill was passed. This time it's going to go to the Senate with a majority leader who will try to get it passed, and we've got a President who will sign it. If we don't do it this time, I think inevitably, because of the fairness of the issue, that the citizens of the District of Columbia will be able to gain statehood and a vote in [Congress]."
WUSA9: ‘It's the right thing to do' | House prepares to take a vote on DC Statehood bill
"Advocates of statehood point out the District has a larger population than Wyoming and Vermont and that D.C. pays more in federal taxes per capita than any state. 'That's what this issue is about, equality of citizenship,' House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said. 'I have been proud to support D.C. statehood, which is a civil rights issue for our country, really it's a civil rights issue, but it's an equal rights issue.'"
"I think we are going to pass it. We passed [H.R. 51] last year, almost every Democrat, actually but one, voted for it. On the theory that we have 700,000 plus people living in the District of Columbia, who have been relegated to second class citizenship because they don't have a voting representative in the House of Representatives, or frankly in the United States Senate. It really makes no sense, just because people live in the Capital of the United States, to disenfranchise them."
FOX 5 DC: Analysis: House Vote on DC Statehood
"Washington, DC is energized. We are energized in the Democratic Party, this is in our platform, we believe it's right to do. 712,000 people - larger than both Wyoming and Vermont and just slightly smaller than North Dakota and South Dakota - pay a lot of taxes and they don't have representation. Our Founding Fathers said taxation without representation is wrong. The right thing to do, whether or not we get the votes, but the right thing to do is to give the residents of Washington, DC the rights that every other citizen has, and that is equal rights in voting and participation in our nation's policy making. I am very hopeful that we can get it done."