January 27, 2005: NORTON, LIEBERMAN & IRAQI AMERICAN AT PRESS CONFERENCE

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and Senator Joe Lieberman spoke at a press conference today about the “No Taxation without Representation Act” that they have introduced in the Senate and House. Andy Shallal an Iraqi American asked for the same voting rights in D.C. that Iraqis will get in Iraq on January 30^th, and Emory Kosh, who served in Iraq responded. Ilir Zherka spoke about a national campaign to achieve DC voting rights.

Norton's statement follows.

Senator Joe Lieberman and I have simultaneously reintroduced the No Taxation Without Representation Act in the Senate and the House. I begin by thanking my Senate partners who have been unwavering sponsors and leaders of the No Taxation Without Representation Act. The residents of the District of Columbia are particularly grateful to Senator Joe Lieberman, who has taken on our quest for democracy with special seriousness and activism. Senator Lieberman began as one of the three original cosponsors of my D.C. statehood bill. During the 107^th session of Congress, the Senator, as chair of the Government Affairs Committee, not only had the first Senate hearing on our bill; he also marked up the bill for the first time in either House and got the No Taxation Without Representation bill to the Senate floor. There was no time to do the work necessary for a Senate vote because the bill moved near the time of adjournment for the year.

This year we reintroduce our bill in the midst of a shooting war in which D.C. residents have died and others continue to serve. I know that residents would want to join me in thanking Andy Shallal, who identifies so strongly with our rights that he has come this morning to speak about what the denial of voting rights here means to an Iraqi American entitled to vote in the Iraq elections. We file this bill knowing that the voting rights our bill would provide are available in Iraq today because of the service of District of Columbia residents and other Americans there. I can only hope that the presence here this morning of Mr. Shallal and of Emory Kosh, who spent nearly a year on the front lines in Iraq, will help increase national understanding of the necessity for our bill in a democracy and of the true meaning of the denial of voting rights.

We should all be encouraged that a highly positive verdict from the American people in favor D.C. voting rights in the House and Senate is already in. Thanks to the work of D.C. Vote and Ilir Zherka, whom we will hear from shortly, we know that 82% of Americans, including super majorities of both Republicans and Democrats, favor equal congressional voting rights for D.C. residents. The clear meaning of the new poll is that the work ahead for passage of our bill lies in connecting where the American people stand on the voting rights with what their representatives in Washington must do. At the same time, according to the poll, most Americans believe that we in the District already enjoy the same rights that they have. If we are to move voting rights in Washington, we must work together and with others who are willing to take our message to the country, where the people are already convinced. I believe Ilir’s remarks will show that under his leadership and that of others, we are already taking the steps necessary to link Washington with the overwhelming weight of American public opinion favoring full congressional voting rights for the District.

D.C. residents know that they are free and equal Americans. Today’s bill is the marker for the equal citizenship rights D.C. residents seek and deserve. The framers were clear that American citizens are entitled to equal representation in the House and Senate--and the American people know it and want it for D.C. We will keep filing this bill until the American principle of one person, one vote lives in the capitol as it does in the rest of the country.

In a time of war, our bill for congressional voting rights for D.C. residents exceeds its name, the No Taxation Without Representation Act. This slogan from our revolutionary past is well understood, but no bill can capture what it means to serve one’s country without a vote. After more than 200 years, there are no words of gratitude equal to the sacrifice. There is only action. We take action now by filing a bill for full voting rights for the citizens of the District of the Columbia.