“‘Through history, we have seen leadership in Congress use D.C. to elevate what they consider to be hot-button issues,’ said Bo Shuff, the executive director of the advocacy organization D.C. Vote. ‘We’ve never seen Congress intervene in how we pave our roads, because that’s not a hot-button issue that will motivate voters.'”
Read the entire piece here.
House Republicans Want to Teach D.C. About Election Integrity. Seriously.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 1st, 2023
PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]
Washington, DC – Yesterday, the Committee on House Administration and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability announced a joint hearing next Wednesday titled, “American Confidence in Elections: The Path to Election Integrity in the District of Columbia.” After the announcement, DC Vote’s communications director Patrice Snow released the following statement:
“The fact that this Congress is even holding a hearing to examine local elections in Washington, DC would be laughable if it wasn’t so predictable. This is nothing more than a continuance of a pattern where elections and democracy are being undermined in predominantly Black and Brown communities across the country. Why would Congress need to interfere in local elections in Washington, DC where our election system is one of the best in America? Simply because we are an easy target due to our lack of Statehood.”
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“‘DC Vote and the DC Statehood community thanks President Biden for standing up for the District’s autonomy this time and vetoing this latest attack,’ Patrice Snow, DC Vote’s communications director, said in a statement. ‘We urge the House and Senate to uphold the veto and stop with the political games at the expense of DC’s equality.”
Read the entire Washington Post piece here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 25th, 2023
PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]
Washington, DC – Today President Biden kept his promise and vetoed the disapproval resolution that was passed by both the House of Representatives and Senate to overturn the local police accountability act. In light of this positive development, DC Vote’s communications director Patrice Snow released the following statement:
“DC Vote and the DC Statehood community thanks President Biden for standing up for the District’s autonomy this time and vetoing this latest attack. We urge the House and Senate to uphold the veto and stop with the political games at the expense of DC’s equality.”
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 19th, 2023
PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]
Washington, DC – Still upset about being owned by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser during Tuesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing, Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins assaulted a local activist just some 24 hours after the hearing because the local activist dared to use his “personal access” to question Higgins.
The irony that Congressman Higgins used his limited time during the May 16th hearing on Washington, DC to ask Mayor Bowser, “Is there any other municipality… that has access to our seat of government as the citizens of Washington, DC?” and then the very next day assaults a local activist who simply followed his instructions is almost more than we can bear.
In light of this week’s developments, DC Statehood organization DC Vote, American Civil Liberties Union of DC, and People For the American Way released the following statement:
“During his time on Tuesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Clay Higgins made it a point to lay out all Members of Congress serve in Washington, DC which gives the 700,000 tax paying District residents unfettered, personal access to them. However, when a local citizen used such access to question the congressman, Higgins intentionally assaulted and battered him,” said Patrice Snow, DC Vote’s communications director.
Snow continued, “Does Congressman Higgins want local activists to be able to use their close proximity to federal officials to lobby them or not? And if they do choose to take advantage of said access, does he plan to physically assault all of them? The congressman has a history of unjustifiably beating bystanders without consequence to his personal or professional reputation. So we at DC Vote and in the DC Statehood movement are now calling on the Metropolitan Police Department and the Capitol Police to investigate yesterday’s assault. One of our mottos we use in the fight for DC autonomy is #HandsOffDC. We never thought in a million years it would be applied literally to a Member of Congress.”
Monica Hopkins, executive director of the ACLU-D.C., finished, “We are alarmed by the incident involving Rep. Higgins. When a government official seemingly uses the power of their office to physically intimidate a person to stop them from exercising their right to freedom of speech, it has a chilling effect on our democracy. It’s a serious concern when Jake Burdett is physically pushed out of a public forum for advocating, as is his first amendment right. This action risks creating an environment where people may feel fearful of expressing their opinions or challenging their representatives. No individual, regardless of their office, should feel exempt from accountability.”
Svante Myrick, president of People For the American Way, finished,“We are appalled by Rep. Higgins’s physical assault on Jake Burdett. It is shocking to see a member of Congress forcefully shoving and pushing a peaceful member of the public, especially when that member is trying to stop the person from exercising their constitutional right to express their views to elected representatives. The attack is made even more bizarre by the fact that Rep. Higgins argued just one day earlier that D.C. residents enjoy extensive opportunities to address lawmakers in person and make their views known. We join with other civil rights organizations that are calling for the Metropolitan Police Department and the Capitol Police to investigate this assault.”
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 16th, 2023
PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]
Washington, DC – The Senate just voted to pass H.J. Res 42, Ohio Senator JD Vance’s disapproval resolution to overturn DC’s Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022. On the other side of the Capitol, the House Oversight Committee, under the leadership of Kentucky Rep. James Comer, held a hearing with DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and other District leaders on supposed rising crime rates in the District. Due to today’s developments on Capitol Hill, DC Vote’s Patrice Snow released the following statement:
“Today was a consequential day for Washington, DC and her 700,000 tax paying residents. First, in the House Oversight Committee, Kentucky Rep. James Comer and his colleagues attempted to attack DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and US Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves on crime. However, Mayor Bowser correctly countered that the way to solve many of DC’s problem is Statehood. In fact, DC Statehood is one of the few ways to build a better and stronger democracy.”
“And then in the Senate, Ohio Senator JD Vance introduced his only second piece of legislation as a United States Senator and it wasn’t to help the people of Akron or Cleveland but rather to repeal legislation lawfully passed by the DC Council. The disapproval resolution of the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022, which doesn’t affect a single Ohioan, has no legal impact because it was brought to the floor after the 60-day Congressional review period. Quite simply, Senator Vance is using DC to send a political message. But we have a feeling the people of Youngstown and Cincinnati, Ohio want JD Vance to figure out how the Senate works first by introducing legislation within a legal timeframe before performing political stunts that does nothing to help his constituents living in Ohio’s 88 counties.”
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“D.C. statehood advocates argued Vance’s resolution held ‘no weight’ after the 60-day window expired and called it undemocratic. ‘It is nothing more than an opportunity to play political games,’ D.C. Vote’s Patrice Snow said in a statement.”
Read the entire Washington Post piece here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 12th, 2023
PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]
Washington, DC – Ohio Senator JD Vance has announced he will introduce the disapproval resolution in the Senate to overturn DC’s Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022. In light of this harmful development, DC Vote’s Patrice Snow released the following statement:
“This companion disapproval resolution to what was passed in the House in April to overturn lawfully passed police reform legislation is not only a violation of the autonomy and self-rule of the 700,000 residents of DC, but it’s too little too late. Simply put, the sixty day window to undemocratically reverse the original legislation has expired so Senator Vance’s bill carries no weight. It is nothing more than an opportunity to play political games. Yet again, Senator Vance and some of his colleagues are using the people of DC to send a message rather than representing the interests of their constiuents on Capitol Hill.”
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 19th, 2023
PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]
Washington, DC – The House of Representatives just voted to approve H.J. Res. 42, the disapproval resolution overturning the local George Floyd police accountability legislation lawfully passed by DC Council. In light of today’s harmful development to DC’s autonomy and home rule rights, DC Vote’s communications director Patrice Snow released the following statement:
“The 700,000 tax paying residents of Washington, DC, the majority of whom are Black and Brown, are sick and tired of Congress substituting their own political agenda for laws passed by the duly elected DC Council. The will of DC residents should always be respected and that did not happen today. This is the third time the will of the people of DC was discarded by politicians who don’t live here who serve in a House where we have no vote. However, we are grateful President Biden has vowed to veto this disastrous piece of legislation because DC and the nurses, teachers, students, and lawyers who call her home should have the freedom to govern ourselves and determine our own destiny.”
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“The District is weathering a historic moment in its long, strained relationship with Congress, which is flexing its constitutional power over the nation’s capital at a clip not seen in years. Republicans have long sought to intervene in D.C. affairs, including by restricting how the city can spend money. But it’s far rarer for local D.C. bills to end up on the House or Senate floor. Until the three times this year, a disapproval resolution targeting D.C. legislation had not made it to the House floor since 2015, and Congress had not successfully blocked a D.C. bill in three decades.”
Click here to read The Washington Post piece.