John, I attended an event with my colleague, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, where we spoke about our efforts to grant Washington, D.C. long overdue statehood.

Eleanor and I are far from alone in this fight.

The majority of Americans support D.C. statehood and we received signatures in support of statehood from all 50 states. Now, since passing the House, our D.C. statehood bill now has record support in the Senate.

We have more momentum than ever to finally make D.C. our country’s 51st state, but I need your help to keep it up. Will you add your name and join us in supporting D.C. statehood?

Earlier this month, I voted to advance D.C. judicial nominees through the confirmation process.

Here’s why that’s a problem:

Every state has power over their own judicial systems, but D.C. does not. As a result, there are often long-running vacancies for D.C. judicial seats and Washingtonians have to wait long stretches -- sometimes even years -- for their day in court to get justice.

So D.C. doesn’t have control over its own judicial system. It doesn’t have control over the National Guard or its ability to respond during emergencies. And its residents don’t have a full voice in our democracy.

D.C. has earned statehood. Washingtonians pay taxes, they serve in our military, they raise their families here. They deserve the same rights as Americans in every other state. If you agree, please sign our petition in support of D.C. statehood.

Thank you,

TC