D.C. Statehood

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, on Thursday, September 19, the Committee on Oversight and Reform will hold a historic hearing on D.C. statehood. It will be the first hearing on H.R. 51 in 26 years.

This is not an informational hearing, Madam Speaker. This is a jurisdictional hearing in every meaning of that word.

The State will still be called Washington, D.C., but D.C. will stand for Douglass Commonwealth after the immortal Frederick Douglass, who championed equal rights for D.C. citizens.

D.C. residents pay the highest Federal taxes per capita in the United States. No wonder this bill has almost enough cosponsors to pass right now. It is not too late to cosponsor. Don't let H.R. 51 go to the House floor without you.

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