Norton Announces New Date for Rescheduled D.C. Statehood Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced today that the House Committee on Oversight and Reform has rescheduled the hearing on Norton's District of Columbia statehood bill (H.R. 51) for 10:00 a.m. on September 19, 2019, in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building. Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD), at Norton's request, postponed the previously scheduled D.C. statehood hearing when it was announced that former Special Counsel Robert Mueller would be testifying in the House on the same day as the statehood hearing. Norton's D.C. statehood bill has a record number of voting cosponsors in the House (213), a strong indication of House passage, and Senate (33). The Senate version was introduced by Senator Tom Carper (D-DE).

"I am particularly grateful to Chairman Cummings for his leadership and for quickly pressing forward with this hearing, which is necessary for our D.C. statehood bill to move to the House floor," Norton said.

Just seven months into the new Congress, Norton has built historic support for her D.C. statehood. In March, the House passed H.R. 1, the For the People Act, which contained extensive findings supporting D.C. statehood, marking the first time in American history either chamber of Congress has endorsed D.C. statehood; Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) strongly endorsed D.C. statehood upon introduction of Norton's D.C. statehood bill; House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD), a cosponsor of the statehood bill, endorsed D.C. statehood in a strong op-ed earlier this year; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) unveiled a sweeping proposal to combat voter disenfranchisement, including restoring the Voting Rights Act, establishing national, automatic voter registration laws, and supporting D.C. statehood; and the statehood bill is endorsed by nearly 100 national advocacy groups.