Norton to Highlight D.C. Casualties in War Today in Call for D.C. Statehood on House Floor in Advance of Emancipation Day
WASHINGTON, DC – In advance of D.C. Emancipation Day, April 16, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today, Wednesday, April 9, 2014 at 10:00 a.m., will continue her call on the House floor this week for statehood for the nearly 650,000 residents of the District of Columbia. Emancipation Day commemorates April 16, 1862, when President Abraham Lincoln freed 3,100 enslaved African Americans in the District. Today, as part of her remarks, Norton will focus on official government figures that show the District has outpaced many states in casualties in the nation’s wars, although D.C. residents have no vote in the House and no Senators. She also will highlight some of the D.C. residents who have made unusually distinguished contributions to the armed services, and will speak of the fight even D.C. members of the armed forces have had to make for equal recognition. Norton’s floor speech can be viewed live on television on C-SPAN or online at https://www.c-span.org/live/?channel=c-span.
“More D.C. residents have died in many of the nation’s wars than the residents of many states,” said Norton. “Most recently, D.C. residents helped win the vote for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, and some died to secure those votes, but those who returned still have no vote of their own in the House and Senate. Even service and sacrifice in the armed forces have not been enough to free our residents from second-class citizenship. Separate bills for representation in Congress, for budget and legislative autonomy and for freedom from interference from the Congress, have fallen on deaf ears. Our residents, especially those who have served their country in the armed services, deserve these ingredients of citizenship to become the 51st state of the United States.”
Norton is going to the floor for statehood this week because it is the last week Congress is in session before Emancipation Day. Yesterday, Norton also spoke on the floor as part of the fight for statehood and focused on the fact that D.C. pays more in federal taxes per capita than any state in the Union. Norton will also go to the floor on Thursday afternoon. The video of her remarks yesterday can be viewed on Norton’s website at norton.house.gov or at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXPlp395cpc&feature=youtu.be.
Published: April 9, 2014