[ [link removed] ]District of Columbia residents deserve the rights of their fellow
Americans. Add your signature to call on the Senate to pass the D.C.
statehood bill that was passed by the House.

Dear MoveOn member,

On June 26, for the first time since the District of Columbia was
established 230 years ago, the House of Representatives voted to make it
our nation's 51st state.

This bill was introduced by D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has
been a delegate in the House since 1991—but because D.C. is not a state,
she has never been allowed to vote. That's right: D.C.'s only
representative in Congress (D.C. residents have no representation at all
in the Senate) is not allowed a vote, even on issues affecting the
district.

D.C. residents do not have the fundamental rights that they are entitled
to as Americans.

Residents of the district do not have real representation or a full voice
in government. They get no say in how their tax dollars are spent—which is
the reason D.C. license plates say "Taxation Without Representation." D.C.
residents have had the right to vote for president only since 1961, and to
elect their own mayor and city council since 1973. D.C. does not have true
local self-government: Congress not only reviews and can modify D.C.'s
local budget but can also annul any law it does not agree with. D.C.
residents have served, fought, and died in every war that our country has
been in, yet the veterans who currently live in D.C. are denied the very
rights and freedoms they risked their lives for.

Residents of the District of Columbia are Americans who have been denied a
seat at the table of our democracy for far too long, and the Washington,
D.C. Admission Act would bring an end to this long-standing injustice. 

The District of Columbia's more than 700,000 residents are being denied
the rights granted to their fellow Americans.

The Senate must fix this by passing the Washington, D.C. Admission Act and
giving the district statehood.

If you believe that every American deserves an equal say in our democracy,
tell the Senate to make District of Columbia the 51st state.

 

[2]Sign Devon's petition

The fight for D.C. statehood is a fight for rights and equality—and
against disenfranchisement and systemic racism. Of the 705,000 residents
of our nation's capital, nearly 50% identify as Black or of two or more
races.^1

In its letter of endorsement for the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, the
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice wrote, "With a majority Black
and brown population, the fight for D.C. Statehood cannot be separated
from the struggle for racial justice in our nation. The lack of voting
representation for D.C. residents is part of the harmful heritage of
racial injustice in our nation. Our government cannot continue to
arbitrarily revoke the fundamental, constitutional rights of our fellow
citizens living in the District. It is wrong to justify the status quo
based on party politics or the historical precedent of preventing Black
and brown people from voting."^2

Republicans in the GOP-led Senate said that they will not pass this bill,
and Donald Trump has threatened to veto it. But if the American people
speak up in support of their fellow Americans in the District of Columbia,
we can force the Senate to finally do the right thing and make D.C. the
51st state.

[ [link removed] ]Click here to add your name to this petition calling on the Senate to
pass the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, and then pass this email along to
your friends and family.

Thanks!

–Devon Nir, Common Cause

Sources:

1. "QuickFacts: District of Columbia," United States Census Bureau, July
1, 2019
[link removed]

2. "Broad, Overwhelming Support for Landmark D.C. Statehood Bill," House
Committee on Oversight and Reform, June 26, 2020
[link removed]

You're receiving this petition because we thought it might interest you.
It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online
petitions. You can [ [link removed] ]start your own petition here.


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