LWV calls on Senate to hold DC Statehood hearing

LWVUS joined 51 for 51 and over 100 organizations asking for a hearing on DC statehood. The letter, addressed to Senator Peters (D-MI), chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, calls for the next historic step forward by scheduling a hearing on S51 and continue the momentum toward ensuring democracy for all Americans.

The Honorable Senator Gary Peters

Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Peters,

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, with unanimous support from Democrats for the very first time. In the United States Senate, S. 51 has more cosponsors than it ever has with 44 signing on in support. With this unprecedented momentum, we are writing to ask you – as the Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee with jurisdiction over this matter – to take another momentous step forward for this movement by holding a hearing on D.C. statehood.

For more than 200 years, racist institutions have disenfranchised the people of Washington, D.C. District residents have lived in the shadow of the Capitol Building, the shrine of American democracy, for centuries without a voting voice in Congress. It is a civil rights and racial justice failure that the 700,000 people who call the nation’s capital home – the majority of whom are Black or Brown – do not have a say in the same government that surrounds them. The United States has the unfortunate distinction of being the only democracy in the world that denies the residents living in its capital city the full rights of citizenship.

Because Washington, D.C., isn’t a state, Congress – the same one in which they have no voting representation – has the final say over the District’s local laws. This has led to Congress continuously trying to override the will of the people on everything from protections for reproductive health decisions , to appropriate qualifications for childcare workers , to family vaccination decisions. Beyond these domestic policy matters, denying D.C. statehood disenfranchises the nearly 30,000 veterans living in Washington, D.C., who are unable to fully participate in the democracy they fought to defend overseas. Residents of D.C. have fought and died in every single war that this nation has waged, with roughly 5,000 men and women in uniform from the nation’s capital having paid the ultimate price and sacrificed their lives for this nation.

Furthermore, because Washington, D.C., isn’t officially a state, the ramifications can extend to the safety of District residents and those who work or visit here. As we saw on January 6, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser lacked direct authority over the D.C. National Guard. In this regard, D.C.’s chief executive is unlike all other state governments which exercise authority over their state's National Guard unit. Instead, the D.C. National Guard is uniquely controlled by the federal government. Testimony provided to the United States Senate found that lack of autonomy and jurisdictional authority played a major role in the significant delay in the National Guard response to the insurrection. More than three hours passed while the attack was unfolding and lawmakers, staff, reporters, and others in the United States Capitol were in fear for their lives. While the factors behind why and how the Capitol came under siege that day are complex and the subject of ongoing inquiry, one thing is clear: the lack of D.C. statehood undeniably was a leading factor in that day's failures.

Our fight for statehood embodies the notion of “no taxation without representation,” the principle on which our country was founded. The people of Washington, D.C., pay more taxes than residents in 22 states and more in federal taxes per capita than any other state in the union and serve their communities and country in a myriad of ways. Yet, by virtue of where they live, they are silenced in our federal government. We ask you today to finally give D.C. residents a voice.

Without statehood for Washington, D.C., we cannot claim to live in a representative democracy. We urge you to hold a hearing on S. 51 and move us one step closer to actualizing our goal of a government for, of, and by the people.

Sincerely,

See Attached Letter for Full List of Signatories