House Passage of Statehood for District of Columbia is Great Victory for D.C. Citizens
Our nation was born out of the idea that taxation without representation was abhorrent to the people who lived in our country. Today, centuries later, that abhorrent problem remains for the United States citizens who live in Washington, D.C.
D.C. residents pay taxes to the federal government and fight and die in wars for our country. They do so without the ability to vote for representatives in Congress who can vote to represent their interests. They do so without control of the D.C. laws that govern them and without control of the D.C. budget.
Furthermore, this denial of full citizenship in D.C. falls heavily on people of color who have been denied full and fair voting rights in our country for centuries.
Democracy 21 congratulates every Representative who voted today to give D.C. residents full citizenship.
We know the fight ahead in the Senate will be difficult. We also know that the battle can and must be won to provide D.C. citizens the same voting rights in Congress that are available to the eligible voters of all fifty states.
