Statement on House NDAA Vote

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 23rd, 2022

PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]

Washington, DC – “We at DC Vote are disappointed in the House Committee on Armed Services defeating an amendment yesterday to the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act that didn’t include a provision for DC’s mayor to control the DC National Guard. Every other chief executive in the United States has control over their respective national guards and as we saw during the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, it is a strategic and moral imperative that DC’s chief executive has the same powers.”

“Twice now Congress has passed DC Statehood and even last year, the National Defense Authorization Act included control over the DC National Guard for the District’s mayor. That’s three times this Congress has supported what all states have – local control of the National Guard. We urge congressional leadership to put this provision into the final version of the bill.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 16th, 2022

PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]

Washington, DC – “We applaud the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government for passing the FY 23 budget without any riders on the people of DC. Without the riders on reproductive justice, marijuana legalization, or any other issue that exerts unwanted control over the people of DC, this budget stands in stark contrast to yesterday’s House Oversight and Reform hearing where Georgia Congressman Andrew Clyde called for repealing the DC Home Rule Act, saying DC was ‘a failed experiment.’ The 700,000 tax paying residents of the District have stated time and time again they want the full freedom to determine their own destiny when it comes to social, political, and economic issues and this budget is the first step toward that. It’s now time for the full Congress to pass the budget without amendments and then go on to finally pass DC Statehood.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 15th, 2022

PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]

Washington, DC – During today’s House Committee on Oversight and Reform markup of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton’s bill to allow the District of Columbia to transmit legislation to Congress for the review period electronically, Georgia Congressman Andrew Clyde used his time to call for repealing the Home Rule Act, saying DC was “a failed experiment.” In light of Rep. Clyde’s comments, DC Vote Communications Director Patrice Snow released the following statement:

“Earlier this year, Reps. Kevin McCarthy of California and James Comer of Kentucky began rolling out a plan to repeal the DC Home Rule Act if they were to win power during the November elections. At the time I remarked that ‘the history of DC shows that each and every time DC Home Rule has been threatened or removed, racism was at the core. And now, true to form, certain members of Congress are using the backdrop of Black History Month to announce proposals to hold DC local elected officials to a different standard than any other jurisdiction in the country.’ 

Now earlier today, during a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing and only days before Juneteenth celebrations begin, Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde was beating the dream even louder on repealing the Home Rule Act for the District, going so far as calling DC ‘a failed experiment.’ The question for Congressman Clyde is what exactly is failing about the District of Columbia? Is it the 700,000 Americans who pay more taxes than twenty other states? Or is it the decades of balanced budgets and a police force that saved the Capitol during the January 6th riot? Washingtonians have come too far in their fight for equality to go back now and they, like the Americans Congressman Clyde represents in Congress, deserve a say on issues facing the country. The only way that can be accomplished is through Statehood.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 6th, 2022

PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]

Washington, DC – Today, leading DC Statehood advocacy organization DC Vote announced two additional members to the Board of Directors.

Dr. Derek Musgrove, an Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Dr. Robinson Woodward-Burns, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Howard University, will immediately join the Board to work toward adding the District of Columbia as the Union’s 51st state.

Dr. Derek Musgrove commented, “I am thrilled to join the board of DC Vote. My professional career has been dedicated to the scholarship of traditionally disenfranchised populations of Washington, DC so serving on DC Vote’s board makes perfect sense. It’s time to turn Washington, Douglas Commonwealth from an idea to a reality.”

“I am very excited to join the Board of DC Vote. As a DC native and lifelong Statehood advocate, I look forward to working with DC Vote to secure the rights of District residents,” Dr. Robinson Woodward-Burns finished.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 21st, 2022

PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]

Washington, DC – One year ago, the House of Representatives passed the Washington, DC Admission Act making DC the nation’s 51st state. Even though the bill was backed by President Joe Biden, it continues to face long odds in the United States Senate.

Despite his Statehood support, the president has now become the biggest impediment to DC’s freedom to govern ourselves by proposing and supporting a budget that continues to prevent the District from legalizing recreational adult-use cannabis. The anti-democratic rider from Maryland Rep. Andy Harris, which overrules the people of DC and maintains the ban on legalizing marijuana in the District, hasn’t even been introduced by the congressman since 2019. Why would President Biden voluntarily include the Harris rider in the budget? 

Due to President Biden’s betrayal of his stated self-determination goals for the District, DC Vote Communications Director Patrice Snow released the following statement:  

“President Biden’s support for the radical Rep. Andy Harris rider in this year’s budget and next year’s budget proposal flies in the face of administration policy issued a year ago and tramples on the freedom of the people of Washington to govern ourselves. Washingtonians, like 44 states have done, should have the freedom to determine how we use local funds and the laws under which we live, including those related to marijuana.” Snow said.

Snow continued, “Because of the current composition of the federal government, we had the best chance this year to enact a budget that would respect DC resident’s freedom to govern ourselves. Yet President Biden, who one year ago issued historic support for Statehood, is literally now the biggest obstacle to set-up a safe and legal regulatory framework for marijuana use in the District. Members of Congress have spent more than 200 years using oppression of the people of DC to score cheap political points at home, but we never expected President Biden to support that interference. Mr. President, it’s time to listen to your neighbors and allow us to decide our own marijuana policy in Washington, DC.”

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