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Norton Calls Out Senate for Sending Federal Tax-Paying D.C. Residents to Back of the Line in Coin Bill

June 22, 2018

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today criticized the Senate for amending a coin bill on the floor Wednesday for the sole purpose of treating the District of Columbia as a second-class jurisdiction, even though D.C. residents pay higher federal taxes per capita than residents represented by all senators who made the change. The Senate amended a bill that would require the U.S. Treasury to issue coins in recognition of innovators or innovations from each state, the District of Columbia and each territory. Under the introduced House and Senate versions of the bills, as well as the version passed by the House (H.R. 770), the coins would have been minted in alphabetic order of the jurisdictions. D.C. would have followed Delaware, but the Senate passed H.R. 770 with the anti-D.C. amendment. The version the Senate passed would require all the coins for the states to be issued before the coins for D.C. and the territories. Because of the change, it will take approximately 13 years before D.C.'s coin is minted (four coins will be minted per year).

"We will call out Congress whenever the District is denied the equal treatment it is entitled to, even without statehood," Norton said. "The District is the only jurisdiction in the United States that pays federal income taxes without representation, and has no senators or vote on the House floor. It is probable that one or more senators would only agree to let the bill pass if all state coins were minted before D.C.'s, a small-minded preference that no state needs. This is not the first time D.C. has been sent to the back of the line when it comes to minting coins."

Previously, Norton got legislation enacted to give D.C. a coin after it was omitted altogether from legislation creating coins for the 50 states.

The bill, American Innovation $1 Coin Act, was introduced by Representative James Himes (D-CT) and Senator Christopher Murphy (D-CT).

Norton has successfully fought to correct many instances where D.C. residents were denied representation in fundamental symbols of American citizenship. In May, Norton got a tree planted on Capitol Grounds in honor of D.C., which now joins more than 30 states that have trees planted on Capitol Grounds. A 2013 Norton bill placed a statue of Frederick Douglass in the Capitol to represent the District, making D.C. the only jurisdiction that is not a state with a statue in the Capitol. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 requires the armed services to display the District flag whenever the flags of the states are displayed. Norton also successfully worked with the U.S. Postal Service to create a D.C. stamp, like the stamps for the 50 states, and worked with the National Park Service to add the D.C. flag alongside the state flags across from Union Station.