2023 -- H 5515

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LC000189

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

SUPPORTING FEDERAL LEGISLATION GRANTING STATEHOOD TO THE PEOPLE OF

WASHINGTON, D.C.

     

     Introduced By: Representatives Kislak, Potter, Ajello, Cortvriend, McGaw, Morales,
Boylan, Donovan, McEntee, and Stewart

     Date Introduced: February 10, 2023

     Referred To: House Judiciary

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     WHEREAS, The people living on the land that would eventually be designated as the

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District of Columbia were provided the right to vote for representation in Congress when the

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United States Constitution was ratified in 1788; and

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     WHEREAS, The passage of the Organic Act of 1801 placed the District of Columbia

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under the exclusive authority of the United States Congress and abolished residents’ right to vote

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for members of Congress and the President and Vice President of the United States; and

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     WHEREAS, Residents of the District of Columbia were granted the right to vote for the

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President and Vice President through passage of the Twenty–Third Amendment to the United

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States Constitution in 1961; and

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     WHEREAS, As of 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau data estimates that the District of

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Columbia’s population at approximately 689,545 residents is comparable to the populations of

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Wyoming (576,851), Vermont (643,077), Alaska (733,391), and North Dakota (779,094); and

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     WHEREAS, Residents of the District of Columbia share all the responsibilities of United

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States citizenship, including paying more federal taxes than residents of 22 states, service on

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federal juries, and defending the United States as members of the United States armed forces in

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every war since the War for Independence, yet they are denied full representation in Congress;

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and

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     WHEREAS, The residents of the District of Columbia themselves have endorsed

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statehood for the District of Columbia and passed a District–wide referendum on November 8,

 

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2016, which favored statehood by 86 percent; and

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     WHEREAS, No other democratic nation denies the right of self–government, including

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participation in its national legislature, to the residents of its capital; and

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     WHEREAS, The residents of the District of Columbia lack full democracy, equality, and

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citizenship enjoyed by the residents of the 50 states; and

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     WHEREAS, The United States Congress has repeatedly interfered with the District of

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Columbia’s limited self–government by enacting laws that affect the District of Columbia’s

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expenditure of its locally raised tax revenue, including barring the usage of locally raised revenue,

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thus violating the fundamental principle that states and local governments are best suited to enact

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legislation that represents the will of their citizens; and

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     WHEREAS, Although the District of Columbia has passed consecutive balanced budgets

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since FY 1997, it still faces the possibility of being shut down yearly because of Congressional

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deliberations over the federal budget; and

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     WHEREAS, District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and Delaware U.S.

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Senator Tom Carper introduced in the 117th Congress H.R. 51 and S. 51, the Washington, D.C.

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Admission Act, that provides that the State of Washington, D.C. would have all the rights of

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citizenship as taxpaying American citizens, including two Senators and at least one House

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member; and

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     WHEREAS, The United Nations Human Rights Committee has called on the United

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States Congress to address the District of Columbia’s lack of political equality, and the

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Organization of American States has declared the disenfranchisement of the District of Columbia

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residents a violation of its charter agreement, to which the United States is a signatory; now,

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therefore be it

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     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

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supports admitting Washington, D.C. into the Union as a State of the United States of America;

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and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

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transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Majority Leader of the United States

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Senate, the Minority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House

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of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, Senator

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Jack Reed, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Representative David Cicilline, Representative Seth

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Magaziner, and Noah Wills of the D.C. Statehood Compact.

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LC000189

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