Norton Announces Historic House Floor Vote on D.C. Statehood Next Week, First Time House Will Endorse D.C. Statehood

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced today that the House is expected next week to debate and pass H.R. 1, the For the People Act of 2019, which contains extensive findings calling on Congress to grant statehood to the District of Columbia. Passage of H.R. 1 will be the first time either chamber has ever endorsed D.C. statehood. H.R. 1 will lay the groundwork for a House floor vote this Congress on Norton's bill (H.R. 51) to grant D.C. statehood.

"Next week, Congress will take a historic step in righting the historic wrong of denying the 700,000 federal taxpaying American citizens who live in the nation's capital equal voting rights and self-government without congressional interference into local affairs," Norton said. "I am grateful to the House Democratic leadership and the sponsor of H.R. 1, Representative John Sarbanes, for including D.C. statehood in a bill devoted to enhancing democracy on the national level. Passage of H.R. 1 is the first step in our effort to get a floor vote on the statehood bill this Congress."

Only two months into the new Congress, Norton has achieved record support for her D.C. statehood bill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) strongly endorsed D.C. statehood upon introduction of H.R. 51.; Norton has gotten a record number of original cosponsors (155) and total cosponsors (198) for her statehood bill; and Congressman Elijah Cummings, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, announced that the committee will hold a hearing and markup on the statehood bill this year, the first House hearing or markup on a D.C. statehood bill since 1993. Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) reintroduced the statehood bill yesterday in the Senate with a record 28 original cosponsors.