Table of Contents 1. What YOU Can do to help 2. Quick History 3. What the Constitution Says 4. The Tennessee Plan 5. Timeline of Current Statehood Movement 6. Lawmaking 7. Taxation Without Representation 8. Criminal Justice 9. Military 10. “If You Want Representation, You Should Just Move” 11. DC Statehood Would Not Give Residents Unequal Influence Over Politics 12. DC Statehood is a Racial Equity and Partisanship Issue 13. More Information

1. What YOU Can Do to Help Contact your legislators – if they already support, thank them! If not, tell them why you care about and support this issue and they should, too. Ideally, we would like to get ALL Democrats to sign on as cosponsors before the vote.  Let your representatives know you support DC statehood.  Write an op-ed for your local paper: view op-ed template.  Talk to your friends and family.  Call Senators who have yet to co-sponsor S.631 and ask them to correct their mistake.

Use your social media platform (and amplify statehood accounts). In addition to Persist DC, here are some trusted statehood-focused social media accounts to follow/amplify:  Neighbors United for DC Statehood o Twitter and Instagram – @51stDC  Students for DC Statehood o Twitter - @StudentsforDC o Instagram - @students_for_dc

 Washington DC Statehood Office o Twitter and Instagram - @DCstatehood51

 DC Vote o Twitter - @DC_Vote o Instagram - @dcvote

 51 for 51 o Twitter - @51for51

 Iowans for DC Statehood o Twitter – @Iowans4DCState

2. Quick History Regardless of where a person falls on the political spectrum it is unlikely that they know much about DC statehood. It is a good idea to begin with a quick rundown of the background when introducing the issue to someone newly interested.

The Constitution, until amended or until DC becomes a state or part of a state, gives Congress exclusive legislative authority over DC in Article I, Section 8, Clause 17. When the Constitution was written, DC had fewer than 8,000 residents and it would stay mostly rural for decades. The Civil War was the catalyst that turned DC from the sleepy seat of government into a real city. DC abolished slavery months before the Emancipation Proclamation, making it a popular destination for formerly enslaved people. Thousands more flocked to DC to work for the war effort. Another population boom came in the 1930s, when the New Deal dramatically increased the number of people working for the Federal Government. By 1957, DC was a majority-Black city.

While the Federal governing of DC has changed over the years, it has consistently silenced the wants and needs of the residents of the District. For example, DC’s subway system was not built until the mid-1970s because Members of Congress - who tended to live in the suburbs - prioritized building a highway system.

In 1973, Congress granted DC limited Home Rule authority. Under Home Rule Congress oversees DC through four Congressional committees, the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the President. Congress not only reviews and can modify DC's local budget, but it can also annul any law it does not agree with. Therefore, DC does not have true local self- government. Additionally, DC has faced serious restrictions on its ability to participate in national politics. It was only in 1961, with the passage of the Twenty-Third Amendment to the Constitution, that DC citizens were allowed to vote in Presidential elections. DC has still never been granted full voting rights in Congress. Learn more.

3. What The Constitution Says This section outlines the (rather few) limitations the Constitution places on altering the status of DC.

The Constitution only sets a maximum size for DC: “ten miles square,” for the federal district that is the “Seat of the Government of the United States.” Congress has the authority to redefine the borders of the federal district and shrink its size, as it did in 1846, when the portion west of the Potomac was returned to Virginia (now Arlington and Alexandria Counties). Creating the new state does not require changing the Constitution. It will require a simple reduction in the size of the federal district to an unpopulated area which includes the US Capitol, the National Mall, museums, some federal office buildings, the White House, the Supreme Court, and major national monuments. Learn more here, here and here.

4. The Tennessee Plan This section outlines the steps DC has taken in accordance with The Tennessee plan. A template that has been used to admit several territories as states since 1796.

Mayor Muriel Bowser and the New Columbia Statehood Commission decided to pursue statehood through what is known as the “Tennessee Plan.” Under the Tennessee Plan, the prospective state’s electorate votes on statehood and ratifies a constitution, without an enabling act, and then uses this as a basis to petition Congress for admission. This approach was pioneered by Tennessee in 1796 and used by Michigan, Iowa, California, Oregon, Kansas, and Alaska to gain admission to the Union.

DC voters opted to satisfy the following four conditions for Statehood prior to filing an enabling act with Congress:

 Residents affirmed the desire to become a state, and 86% of voters supported the Washington, D.C. Admission Act.  Ratified a State Constitution.  Established new state boundaries, which would preserve a smaller federal district required by the Constitution.  Committed to a republican form of government that is representative, with elected officials including the election of United States Senators and Representatives on equal footing with the other states in the Union.

Under the Tennessee Plan a bill must pass the US House of Representatives and US Senate and then must be signed by the President of the United States. We’re working on the first part of that now.

5. Timeline of Current Statehood Movement This provides a more in depth rundown of the recent moves that have been made towards statehood.

On January 3, 2019, DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton introduces H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, with 155 cosponsors, the most initial cosponsors ever on a DC statehood bill. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, commits to holding a hearing on and a markup of the bill in 2019. This would be the first hearing and markup of a DC statehood bill in 26 years.

On January 3, 2019, the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives includes findings in § 2201 of H.R. 1, the For the People Act of 2019, on why the residents of the District of Columbia "deserve full congressional voting rights and self-government, which only statehood can provide."

On February 28, 2019, Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE) introduces S. 631, a companion Senate statehood bill with 29 original cosponsors.

On March 8, 2019, the House of Representatives approves H.R. 1, including § 2201’s findings relating to DC statehood. This is the first time either house of Congress has approved legislation relating to DC statehood. As of March 11, H.R. 51, the House statehood bill, has 201 cosponsors and S. 631, the Senate statehood bill, has 32 cosponsors, the most ever for both houses.

On April 15, 2019, on the eve of DC’s celebration of Emancipation Day, 20 state Attorneys General (CA, CN, DE, HI, IL, IA, KY, MD, MA, MI, MN, NV, NM, NY, NC, OR, PA, VT, VA, WA) join DC Attorney General Karl Racine in supporting DC statehood and issue a statement urging Congress to approve DC statehood.

On July 2, 2019, DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton announces that over 100 national and local organizations support DC statehood, including the ACLU, AFGE, NTEU, Common Cause, Democracy for America, Friends of the Earth, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, March for Our Lives, NAACP, the National Council of Jewish Women, Progressive Democrats of America and NARFE.

On September 19, 2019, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform holds a hearing on H.R. 51, the first House hearing since 1993. Over a thousand DC residents attend the hearing, many in overflow rooms or before an outdoor jumbotron. The District government celebrates with 51 star U.S. flags lining both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue NW from Freedom Plaza to the Capitol.

On February 11, 2020, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, by a 21 to 16 vote, reports a DC statehood bill to the full House of Representatives for the first time since 1993.

On June 26, 2020, H.R. 51. Passes the full House of Representatives with 232 Yeas to 178 Nays and heads to the Senate where it is unlikely Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will allow a vote this term. As of TODAY (7/8/2020), H.R. 51 has 224 cosponsors and S. 631 has 42 cosponsors.

6. Lawmaking This section is most likely going to appeal to left leaning folks since DC leans to the left. To conservatives DC laws are abominable and the end of preventing them justifies any means used to do so.

While DC has Home Rule, which includes the DC Council and a Mayor who write and pass legislation, there is no guarantee that our local elected officials’ work will actually become law. Unique to the District of Columbia, an approved Act of the Council must be sent to the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate for a period of thirty days before becoming effective as law (or 60 days for certain criminal legislation). During this period of congressional review, the Congress may enact into law a joint resolution disapproving the Council’s Act. If, during the review period, the President of the United States approves the joint resolution, the Council’s Act is prevented from becoming law. Recently, congress has used this power to interfere with DC’s ability to enact gun control laws, set up safe needle exchanges and legalize marijuana.

DC’s lack of legislative autonomy means it can be used as a political bargaining chip for the White House. Back in 2011, President Obama was working on a budget deal with former Speaker John Boehner. Ultimately, he allowed Congress to include a ban on DC using LOCALLY RAISED, NON-FEDERAL money to give low-income women access to abortions, saying, “John, I will give you DC abortion. I am not happy about it.” Seventeen states use local funds to provide low-income abortion access, but their rights have not been bargained away. Sadly, there are many more examples of this type of unconscionable political horse trading, regardless of which party is in power. Learn more here.

7. Taxation Without Representation This is a good subject to target right leaning people who despise the notion of taxation. This is an instance where residents are taxed at a high rate without having a say in how that money is used.

DC residents have fought and died in every war, yet those service members and veterans are denied the freedoms they have fought to protect. DC residents pay the highest per- capita federal income taxes in the US. In total, DC residents pay more in total federal income tax than residents of 22 other states. At 702,000+ residents, DC has a larger population than Vermont and Wyoming and is comparable to several other states including Delaware, Alaska. Despite these facts, DC has no vote in Congress. This means DC residents have no say over how those tax dollars are spent. DC receives between 25-30% of its budget from the federal government; as a percentage, this is less than five states and is on a par with three others.

Additionally, DC’s lack of representation means that DC residents have no say in the determination of who should serve as leadership for federal agencies, serve as U.S. Ambassadors to foreign countries, sit on federal court benches or serve in the U.S. Supreme Court. This is true even for the federal courts within DC's boundaries.

8. Criminal Justice This section is more likely to appeal to Left leaning people who care about restorative criminal justice. Although some libertarian leaning people might also care about these issues since it violates DC from being able to self-determine.

Unlike in other jurisdictions, DC residents cannot elect reform-minded prosecutors (97% of the District Attorneys in the U.S. are elected). The Superior Court of the District of Columbia (which is funded by the federal government, operated by the federal government, has its judges appointed by the president) hears all local civil and criminal cases in DC. The elected Attorney General of DC has jurisdiction over a limited range of criminal offenses (learn more). More serious offenses are handled by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia who is appointed by the President of the United States. Unsurprisingly, the fact that the U.S. Attorneys in DC are neither elected by local residents nor appointed by city officials leads to ignorance of and non- responsiveness to the concerns and needs of DC residents. For instance, in August of 2019, an analysis by The Washington Post showed that the office prosecuted far fewer hate crimes than at any other time in the last 10 years; of the total 113 hate crime reports presented for possible prosecution in 2017 and 2018, the U.S. Attorney’s office only prosecuted four. This drop came at the same time that reports of hate crimes drastically increased, per MPD data. It is critical that we elect local officials who are willing and able to hold these federal officials accountable, AND that we continue to work towards DC statehood, which would allow us to control our own justice system. Learn more about how the DC Attorney General shares power with the US Attorney. 9. Military This is a good section to hit hard. Images of thousands of soldiers, cops and unidentified DOJ personnel roaming the streets of DC despite the objections of its head executive are what has encouraged the recent (as of June 2020) surge of support for DC statehood.

The Black Lives Matter protests in DC showed one of the more dangerous aspects of not having statehood. The President ordered thousands of personnel from 11 states alongside DOJ operatives to report to the nation’s capital and support DC National Guard (it should be noted that Mayor Bowser only requested an additional 500 Guardsmen and women). On June 2, the Pentagon announced it moved about 1,600 troops from multiple active duty Army units into the National Capitol Region to support civil authorities operations. This unnecessary militarization could not have occurred in states without meeting the requirements of the Insurrection Act of 1807. Excellent discussions of the legal issues surrounding militarizing DC can be found here and here.

10. “If You Want Representation, You Should Just Move!” No American citizen should have to leave their home behind in order to receive their full rights as a citizen. No other democracy disenfranchises the people of their capital the way the US does. No U.S. state disenfranchises the people of the state capital because of their proximity to “the seat of power” so there's no justifiable reason to penalize the people of DC for their proximity to the seat of the Federal Government.

11. DC Statehood Would Not Give Residents Unequal Influence Over Politics One of the Framers’ primary concerns with making DC a state was that residents would have unfair access to government representatives. This concern may have been valid when interstate transportation took days or weeks. However, it is now possible for a U.S. citizen to cross the country in half a day, send an email or pick up the phone if they wish to contact their representatives.

12. DC Statehood is a Racial Equity and Partisanship Issue This is a common dog whistle deployed by congressional Republicans. It is important to clarify to people who are unaware that Republicans are arguing to people they are arguing that Black U.S. citizens should not be allowed to exercise their rights because they are not the “right” kind of citizens.

A common argument against DC Statehood by Republicans is that it’s a power grab by Democrats to guarantee two additional Democratic votes in the Senate. Interestingly enough, many states were admitted by Congress based on whether they had the “right” type of voters. In fact, the reason we have a North and South Dakota is because the single Dakota territory was split into two states in the late 1800s (total population: 158,000) as a Republican ploy to gain four Senators instead of two.

A citizen’s right to vote should be conditional upon whether it is the “right” type of vote. There should be no conditions on citizens all U.S. citizens regardless of their identities are entitled to the same rights. It is noteworthy, when discussions turn to the “right” kind of state versus the “wrong” kind of state that the “right” states tend to be majority white whereas DC is a majority minority state.

13. More Resources New York Times: Susan Rice’s Op-ed on DC statehood; “Washington, D.C., Deserves Statehood”

Washington Post: “Muriel Bowser: The protests show why D.C. statehood matters”

The New Republic: “The Argument Against D.C. Statehood Is Rooted in Racism”

Slate: “Republican Arguments Against D.C. Statehood Aren’t Getting Any Newer—or Any Less Racist”

Text of H.R. 51 and S.631

Thank you for your support! We can’t wait to make the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, the 51st State!