DC VOTE: TOMORROW’S FLOOR SPEECHES ON STATEHOOD TO UNDERSCORE NEED FOR A DC SENATOR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 24, 2021

MEDIA CONTACT:
Will Soltero
[email protected]

With Senators Booker, Carper, Cardin, Kaine and Van Hollen set to support Statehood for the residents of Washington, DC on the floor of the U.S. Senate, DC Vote, one of the leading organizations for DC Statehood, released the following statement of support:

“Today, we witnessed history as five U.S. senators from four different states spoke for the 700,000 Americans who have neither a senator nor a state themselves—all on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

DC Vote and the residents of the District of Columbia applaud Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) for his unwavering commitment to the people of Washington, DC as the sponsor and driver of the Washington D.C. Admission Act.

With speeches of support from five of the record-46 co-sponsors of S. 51—Sens. Carper, Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)—the voices in support of liberty, equality and ultimately Statehood for the people of Washington, DC cannot go grow louder every day. 

While the people of Washington DC appreciate the advocacy of lawmakers from across the country on our behalf, such advocacy is no substitute for full and equal representation of our own. Each and every day that passes without such representation in our national government is a failure of justice and a failure of democracy that must be rectified.

With all questions of the constitutionality of Statehood summarily dispelled by both history and our country’s leading experts in constitutional law, S. 51 must be provided a hearing and the opportunity to advance to the floor of the Senate for a vote, and Washington DC must be admitted as the 51st state to our Union.”

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