Wyden, Merkley join 39 Senate colleagues in bill to grant statehood to the District of Columbia
WASHINGTON (KTVZ) -- Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. said Tuesday they have joined 39 colleagues in introducing the District of Columbia statehood bill for the 119th Congress in the Senate.
“Year after year, nearly 700,000 people living in our nation’s capital are being taxed without receiving the same representation in Congress as their fellow Americans,” Wyden said. “When District of Columbia residents cannot have a vote in the Senate, they are being denied the right to fair and equal representation. That’s a travesty and this bill reforms this inequality by empowering DC residents with the same voting rights as other Americans.”
“No taxation without representation! That’s the battle cry from our original American Revolution against British tyranny,” Merkley said. “Today, that injustice remains for hundreds of thousands of people in DC who have no vote on bills in Congress. That’s a travesty and this bill reforms this inequality by empowering DC residents with the same voting rights as other Americans.”
In addition to Wyden and Merkley, the legislation was led by Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and cosponsored by Senators Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Gary Peters, D-Mich., Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Chris Coons, D-Del., Catherine Cortez-Masto, D-Nev., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawai’i, Tim Kaine, D-Va., Andy Kim, D-N.J., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Ed Markey, D-Mass., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Brian Schatz D-Hawai’i, Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Tina Smith, D-Minn., Mark Warne, D-Va., Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
The full text of the bill that would admit Washington, D.C. as the 51st state is here.
