Norton Says 246 Years After the Nation's Independence, D.C. Statehood is Long Overdue

Press Release

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said that, as the nation today celebrates 246 years since declaring independence from Great Britain in part because of taxation without representation, the Senate must take the nation's founding slogan to heart and pass the District of Columbia statehood bill.

"The continuation of taxation without representation in the nation's capital not only violates a main pillar of the revolution that sent our Founders to war," Norton said. "Allowing the nearly 700,000 Americans who live in the nation's capital to continue to live as second-class citizens betrays the spirit of July 4th itself. On no U.S. holiday is D.C.'s inequality more deeply felt or more at war with the nation's democratic values than on July 4th. District residents not only pay federal taxes without voting representation in Congress, they pay more federal taxes per capita than the citizens of any state in the nation. July 4th summons our moral outrage to continue our fight for statehood and full equality for D.C. residents."

The House has passed the D.C. statehood bill twice since 2020, most recently on April 22, 2021, and Norton gave opening remarks at the June 22, 2021, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing on the bill.

D.C. pays more federal taxes than 23 states and more federal taxes per capita than any state.

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