Issues D.C. Council Actions Statehood D.C. Council Member Harry Thomas, Jr. Introduces Statehood Resolution
| It's already tomorrow! You got things to activate! |
| D.C. Council Member Harry Thomas, Jr. Introduces Statehood Resolution |
 |
|
COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
THE JOHN A. WILSON BUILDING
1350 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW
ROOM 107
WASHINGTON, , DC 20004
Harry Thomas, Jr.
Councilmember, Ward 5
Chair, Committee on
Economic Development
For Immediate Release Contact: Ayawna Chase Webster
January 4, 2011 Phone: 202.724.8074
Thomas Introduces Resolution Encouraging Delegate Norton to Introduce Legislation Calling on
Congress to Admit District as 51st State of the Union
Washington, DC—Ward 5 Councilmember Harry “Tommy” Thomas, Jr. introduced a resolution at
today’s legislative session encouraging Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s Delegate to the U.S.
House of Representatives, to introduce legislation calling on Congress to use its constitutional powers to
admit the District of Columbia as the 51st State of the Union. All 11 Council colleagues signed on as co-
introducers of the resolution, which will be voted on in the next legislative session.
Article IV, Section 3 of the United States Constitution outlines that Congress may admit new states into
Union as long as the new states are not within the boundaries of existing states. This section of the
Constitution also stipulates that Congress shall have power to dispose of and make rules and regulations
for territories or other property belonging to the United States.
In his remarks introducing the resolution, Councilmember Thomas noted the importance of making a
strong statement about full representation at this time. He also paid tribute to Julius Hobson, Josephine
Butler, and Harry L. Thomas, Sr., each of whom fought for our right to equality.
“Our rights are abridged when Congress imposes its will on local matters and denies us voting
representation on federal issues in both houses of Congress,” said Councilmember Thomas, a former
member of the DC Statehood Commission. “Statehood would ensure that residents of the District of
Columbia enjoy full sovereign rights in state and local matters, voting representation in both houses of
the U.S. Congress, and an unrestricted vote for President, like all citizens of the United States.”
###
________________________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION ON STATEHOOD Whereas this nation is founded on the belief that all people are endowed with certain inalienable rights and that to secure these rights, governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; and Whereas the rights of the residents of the District of Columbia are abridged when the U.S. Congress imposes its will on local matters and denies us voting representation on federal issues in both houses of the U.S. Congress; and Whereas the people of the District of Columbia are the only Americans who still bear all of the responsibilities of citizenship, but who do not enjoy all of the rights of citizenship, including local sovereignty and representation in both houses of Congress, making the District, in effect, a colony under Congressional jurisdiction; and Whereas statehood will ensure that residents of the District of Columbia enjoy full sovereign rights in state and local matters, voting representation in both houses of the U.S. Congress, and an unrestricted vote for President, just like every other citizen of the United States of America, and is a matter of simple justice: Therefore be it resolved that the Council of the District of Columbia urges our Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, Eleanor Holmes Norton, to introduce legislation calling on Congress to use its powers under Article IV, Section 3 of the United States Constitution and admit the District of Columbia as the 51st State of the Union.
|