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“The House’s passage of legislation admitting Washington, D.C. as a state, is a promising step toward ensuring that every American has proper representation in our democracy. More than 700,000 fellow Americans currently live in the District of Columbia without full or proper representation in the United States Congress, despite our city having a greater population than either of the states of Wyoming or Vermont.
“Every year, millions of students learn about the historic cry of the American Revolution: No Taxation Without Representation. Yet D.C.’s lack of proper local and federal representation fails to meet the standards of this founding American principle. Residents in D.C. pay more per capita in federal taxes than in any state in our nation, yet they are denied the local and federal representation afforded by American statehood. Instead, politicians in Congress from other states have the power to overrule laws passed by D.C.’s own local elected officials.
“While our organization is fighting a new round of voter suppression laws in several states, the citizens of Washington, D.C. suffer the ultimate voter suppression: denying them any voice in having voting representatives in the U.S. Congress. By granting statehood to the District of Columbia, we can end this two century old injustice. As a national, nonpartisan organization dedicated to making sure that each American’s voice is heard, we strongly support the advancement of D.C.’s statehood and hope to see the U.S. Senate pass this legislation and send it to President Joe Biden to sign it into law.”
-Robert Brandon, President & CEO