FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2020
Contact: Kenny Palmer | press@indivisible.org
Washington, DC — Today, Meagan Hatcher-Mays, Director of Democracy Policy for Indivisible, issued the following statement about the scheduled vote on DC Statehood this Friday in the House of Representatives:
“For the first time in our country's history, the House of Representatives is expected to pass a bill that would make D.C. the 51st state. Statehood is the only way to guarantee full autonomy and congressional representation to D.C. residents, who are currently at the mercy of the paternalistic whims of Congress. As a result, D.C. residents are treated like second-class citizens in their own country. Congress gets the final say on D.C.'s local budget. The Department of Justice is D.C.'s "local" prosecutor. D.C.'s locally-enacted laws are subject to nullification at the hands of any overzealous politician in Congress. And as we saw recently, an unhinged totalitarian in the White House has free reign to terrorize D.C. residents peacefully protesting racial injustice with federal law enforcement officers and military personnel.
“For the hundreds of thousands of residents in the District, this vote is about the promise of an equitable democracy, but it is also about justice. A historically-Black city, D.C.’s lack of statehood is a remnant of Reconstruction when racist white politicians sought to prevent the District’s majority-Black residents from gaining political power. GOP Senators are echoing this history even now in their pathetic opposition to D.C. statehood.
“Indivisible will keep fighting for D.C. statehood until the fight is won. Without statehood for the District, we cannot claim to live in a fair, functional democracy.”
# # #
ABOUT THE INDIVISIBLE PROJECT
The Indivisible Project is a registered 501(c)(4) nonprofit. Our mission is to cultivate and lift up a grassroots movement of local groups to defeat the Trump agenda, elect progressive leaders, and realize bold progressive policies. Across the nation, thousands of local groups are using the Indivisible Guide to hold their members of Congress accountable. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.