Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Dc Statehood topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
D.C. advocates tell Massachusetts committee: support statehood for Washington, D.C.
Summary
Witnesses, including a fifth-generation Washingtonian and the District's nonvoting shadow senator, urged the committee to back House and Senate measures (H3844/S2472) expressing support for admitting Washington, D.C., as a state to give its residents voting representation in Congress.
A small group of witnesses urged the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs to signal support for D.C. statehood by backing companion resolutions in the Massachusetts legislature.
Elizabeth Callanan Mitchell, a fifth-generation Washingtonian, said D.C. residents live "in the shadow of power" without voting representation and described federal actions she said have stripped local authority and funding. Ankit Jain, the nonvoting "shadow" United States Senator for the District of Columbia, testified about the district's lack of voting senators and representatives and urged Massachusetts lawmakers to support H3844 and S2472.
Why it matters: Witnesses emphasized the democratic principle of representation and described fiscal and service impacts in D.C. that flow from lacking congressional representation. Supporters asked Massachusetts to add its moral and political weight to national statehood efforts.
Next steps: The committee heard testimony and closed the public testimony portion of the hearing by voice vote; members did not record a committee vote on the D.C. statehood resolutions during the hearing.
