Norton Says Senate Bill to Repeal D.C. Home Rule Act Indicates D.C. is Closer Than Ever to Statehood

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said today that news that Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has introduced a bill to repeal the D.C. Home Rule Act is a sign that D.C. is closer than ever to statehood.

"We have rarely heard such extensive anti-democratic rhetoric from Republicans about the District of Columbia," Norton said. "Republicans are scared that D.C. is closer to statehood than ever, after the House passed my statehood bill twice and the Senate held a hearing on it. The Republican response is, predictably, to try to take away what small measure of democracy the nearly 700,000 D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, have. I will defeat their efforts, which only strengthen our case for statehood."

Congress passed the Home Rule Act in 1973, which was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. The Home Rule Act gave D.C. an elected chief executive (mayor) and legislature (Council). Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) previously introduced a bill in the House to repeal the Home Rule Act.

Norton noted that D.C. has a larger population than two states, pays more federal taxes than 19 states, pays more federal taxes per capita than any state, and has a larger gross domestic product than 17 states.

Senator Lee’s bill is unlikely to advance in the Democratically-led Senate.

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