D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said Friday that news that Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has introduced a bill to repeal the D.C. Home Rule Act is a sign that the city is closer than ever to statehood.
“We have rarely heard such extensive anti-democratic rhetoric from Republicans about the District of Columbia,” Norton said. “The Republicans are scared that D.C. is closer to statehood than ever, after the House passed my statehood bill twice and the Senate held a hearing on it. The Republican response is, predictably, to try to take away what small measure of democracy the nearly 700,000 D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and brown, have. I will defeat their efforts, which only strengthen our case for statehood.”
Congress passed the Home Rule Act in 1973, which was signed into law by Republican President Richard Nixon. The Home Rule Act gave D.C. an elected chief executive (mayor) and legislature (city council).
Norton noted that the District has a larger population than two U.S. states, pays more in federal taxes per capita than any state, and has a larger gross domestic product than 17 states.
Norton said Lee’s bill is unlikely to advance in the Democrat-led Senate.
U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) previously introduced a bill in the House to repeal the Home Rule Act. On Tuesday, Ogles added an amendment proposal to the federal budget defunding the District’s New Columbia Statehood Commission and its elected shadow delegation.
D.C. shadow Rep. Oye Owolewa condemned the Ogles measure, saying “This amendment is just another attempt to silence D.C. in our pursuit of equality and fairness.”
“Mr. Ogles’ proposed amendment proves that forces against democracy are noticing our efforts,” he said. “As D.C.’s representative, I vow to fight back against these threats, scale up the advocacy and present our noble cause to all of America. We in D.C. deserve our voices heard, our votes counted, and our rights protected. Our only path forward is D.C. statehood.”
