As you may have seen in our letter on today’s Post editorial page, DC Appleseed has long been a strong advocate for D.C. Statehood. At the same time, we are also a strong advocate of taking steps to advance democracy in ways that may bring us important elements of Statehood while we are working toward the ultimate Statehood goal. This includes our previous efforts to give the District an elected Attorney General and local budget autonomy.
Currently, as our letter in the Post says, we are working with Chairman Phil Mendelson and Councilmember Mary Cheh to pass a bill in the Council that would give D.C. a vote in the House of Representatives on all issues that apply exclusively to the District. If the Council passes this bill, it will become law unless in 30 legislative days both Houses of Congress overturn it. Because that seems highly unlikely to happen in the current Congress, the result will be that for the first time in its history the District will have a vote in the House.
While this won’t give us the full democracy to which we are entitled, it will be an important step forward and is one we think is well worth taking as we continue the drive toward Statehood.
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Many thanks.
