Reid Calls on Congress to Grant D.C. Statehood, Sponsors Statehood Bill

WASHINGTON, DC - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today thanked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) for his forceful and unequivocal call for Congress to grant the District of Columbia statehood during his remarks at today's unveiling of D.C.'s Frederick Douglass statue in the U.S. Capitol. At the ceremony for D.C.'s first statue in the Capitol, which joins statues from the 50 states, Reid also announced that he had become a cosponsor, a rare act for a Majority Leader, yesterday of the Senate companion to Norton's D.C. statehood bill. The bill, the New Columbia Admission Act (S.132), was introduced by Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE) and is also cosponsored by Assistant Majority Leader Richard Durbin (D-IL), Secretary of the Democratic Conference Patty Murray (D-WA) and Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).

"Senator Reid has always been a good friend to the District of Columbia. He has worked closely with me in our fight for voting rights and greater home rule. The Majority Leader's remarks today, however, set a new congressional standard for advocacy of D.C. statehood," Norton said. Because Majority Leaders rarely cosponsor bills, Norton hopes Reid's cosponsorship will signal to other Democrats to sign onto the statehood bill. Reid said D.C. deserves statehood and that Congress should grant it. He noted that D.C. residents, like the residents of the states represented by the congressional leadership on the stage at the ceremony, pay federal taxes and serve and die in America's wars. He concluded his remarks with a call to action: now that Congress has honored Douglass with a statue, Congress should also honor his legacy of fighting for D.C. equality by granting D.C. statehood.

Published: June 19, 2013