Mayor Bowser Directs 51-Star Flags Displayed Along Pennsylvania Avenue in push for D.C. statehood

Ahead of Flag Day, Mayor Muriel Bowser directed 51-star flags to be displayed along Pennsylvania Avenue and issued the following statement regarding DC statehood:

“Today, ahead of Flag Day, I directed our team to hang 51-star flags along Pennsylvania Avenue as a reminder to Congress and the nation that the 700,000 tax-paying American citizens living in Washington, DC demand to be recognized. On Flag Day, we celebrate American ideals, American history, and American liberty. But the very foundation of those ideals, and the basis for our liberty, is representation. DC’s disenfranchisement is a stain on American democracy – a 220-year-old wrong that demands to be righted. The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed the Washington, DC Admission Act, and now the U.S. Senate must do the same.

“As Americans nationwide brace for a decision on the future of Roe v. Wade, we are also reminded that DC’s disenfranchisement impacts not just Americans living in DC, but Americans nationwide who share our values. While the stakes are even higher for Washingtonians, we stand shoulder to shoulder with the majority of Americans who believe in a woman’s right to choose. We also stand shoulder to shoulder with the majority of Americans demanding common sense gun reforms, and with the majority of Americans who want to build a more inclusive democracy.

“We are at an inflection point for American democracy, and it is within the Senate’s power to do the right thing, embrace representation, and move DC statehood forward to the President’s desk.”

Washington D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton on passage of D.C. statehood bill

After managing the debate on the District of Columbia statehood bill (H.R. 51) on the House floor, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) celebrated House passage of the bill today with House leadership and her colleagues following overwhelming support by 232 Democrats, most of them cosponsors of the bill. The bill had 227 cosponsors, more than enough to guarantee passage. Neither chamber of Congress had passed the bill before.

“We are buoyed by the priority the House gave D.C. statehood at a time when COVID-19 has meant that only essential bills are coming to the floor this year,” Norton said. “We are undaunted by the lack of support in the Republican-controlled Senate, and the White House. We are certainly not discouraged by President Trump’s outspoken opposition to home rule and his attempts to control the District of Columbia and the city’s police force in acts of brazen presidential irresponsibility.

“Far from underestimating the work to come, however, our strategy is in place for full speed ahead. That strategy will soon become apparent, but today we celebrate.”

Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser statement on historic vote for statehood

Mayor Muriel Bowser issued the following statement after the House of Representatives voted 232-180 to pass the Washington, D.C. Admission Act (H.R. 51), the first time a chamber of Congress has approved a bill to make the District the 51st state.

Today, with this historic vote, DC is closer than we have ever been to becoming the 51st state.

More than 160 years ago, Washingtonian Frederick Douglass told us: Power concedes nothing without a demand. As Washingtonians and as taxpaying American citizens, we are demanding what is owed to us – the rights guaranteed to us by the U.S. Constitution.

It is past time to fix this injustice. It is true that DC is more brown and more liberal than many other states. But the issue of taxation without representation was settled more than 200 years ago through the Declaration of Independence, and disenfranchising more than 700,000 taxpaying Americans is wrong no matter our politics or demographics. Who we elect is our business, and denying us statehood based on who we might send to Congress is both undemocratic and un-American.

Now, just as generations of Americans have worked over the centuries to build a more perfect union, we, too, are ready to seize this moment. Today, we stand on the shoulders of generations of Washingtonians who demanded access to our nation’s democracy – from the abolitionists of the 1800s to the Home Rule activists of the 1900s.

Power concedes nothing without a demand. And statehood is our demand.

On behalf of all Washingtonians, I congratulate Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. On both a personal and professional level, this is an extraordinary accomplishment for the Congresswoman, and we are all grateful not only for her tireless work on statehood, but also her commitment to uplifting DC residents and putting DC in the best position to become the 51st state.

I was born without representation, but I swear – I will not die without representation. Together, we will achieve DC statehood, and when we do, we will look back on this day and remember all who stood with us on the right side of history.