H.R. 51: Making D.C. the 51st State
Chairwoman Maloney's Opening Statement [PDF]
Congresswoman Norton's Opening Statement [PDF]
Washington D.C. (Mar. 15, 2021)—On Monday, March 22, 2021, at 11:00 a.m., Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, will hold a hybrid hearing on H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, introduced by Committee Member Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton on January 4, 2021.
H.R. 51 would admit the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth into the Union and reduce the size of the federal district. The bill has 212 cosponsors and an identical version was passed by the House of Representatives in the 116th Congress.
Currently, 712,000 residents of the federal district, known as the District of Columbia, are denied political representation. Despite this, the District of Columbia pays more in federal taxes than 21 states and more per capita than any state.
The hearing will discuss the three prerequisites Congress has generally considered in admission decisions as well as Congress’s constitutional authority to admit the District of Columbia as a state and reduce the size of the federal district.
WITNESSES
The Honorable Muriel Bowser
Mayor, District of Columbia
Mr. Wade Henderson
Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Dr. Fitzroy Lee
Interim Chief Financial Officer, District of Columbia
The Honorable Phil Mendelson
Chairman, Council of the District of Columbia
Ms. Mainon Schwartz
Legislative Attorney, Congressional Research Service
Mr. Zack Smith
Legal Fellow, Meese Center, Heritage Foundation
Mr. Harry Wingo
D.C. Veteran
DOCUMENTS
- NOTICE
- Memo
- Attendance
- UC - Rep. Norton - ACLU report regarding constitutionality of H.R. 51
- UC – Rep. Norton – D.C. Affairs Community letter regarding support for statehood
- UC – Rep. Norton – D.C. Developmental Disabilities Council testimony
- UC – Rep. Norton – Environmental and Faith Coalition letter regarding support for statehood
- UC – Rep. Norton – GWAC letter regarding support for statehood
- UC – Rep. Norton – GWU President letter regarding support for statehood
- UC – Rep. Norton – NARFE letter regarding support for statehood
- UC – Rep. Norton – SEIU letter regarding support for statehood
- UC – Rep. Maloney – CAC letter regarding support for statehood
- UC – Rep Maloney – DC Ban Factsheet
- List of H.R. 51 Endorsers
- Rep. Connolly Statement for the Record
- HHRG-117-GO00-Transcript-20210322.pdf