Public Hearing, Bill 18-177, the 51st State Commission Establishment Act of 2009

Councilmember Yvette M. Alexander, Chairperson of the Committee on Aging and Community Affairs
Wednesday, July 8, 2009

The stated purpose of Bill 18-177 is to establish a 51st State Commission to conduct a full and complete study of the necessary and appropriate legislation and administrative action that must be taken in order to establish the District of Columbia as a state of the United States of America with all Constitutional rights, or to obtain full voting representation in both Houses of the United States Congress without designation as a state, and to expand educational and promotional efforts regarding the lack of full Congressional representation for the District of Columbia.

My testimony

I applaud the excellent proposals for revision of Bill 18-177 made by the three previous speakers (Sam Jordan, Ann Loikow, DC Statehood Now- Yes We Can!, and Shelley Tomkin, Ward 3 Democratic Committee). In particular, we support the transfer of the now tentatively budgeted $500,000 to the work of this Commission. We also are delighted with the announcement of Councilmember Alexander that the wording providing for the option of only full voting representation in Congress without designation as a state is now deleted from the previous version of this bill. I urge that the charge be expanded to: “to expand educational and promotional efforts regarding the lack of full Congressional representation for the District of Columbia and the lack of the powers of full self-governance common to all other citizens of the United States residing in the 50 states.”

Achievement of full voting representation in Congress without the status of a state is not only a mirage given the likely constitutional objections pointed out by legal scholars such as Jonathan Siegel, Professor of Law, George Washington University (and who will we “trade” two Senators with, parallel to the flawed approach of the Voting Rights Act?), but even gaining such full representation would continue our neo-colonial status under the rule of Congress, since we would still lack the permanent legislative and budgetary autonomy only obtainable through statehood. Indeed, the most precious voting right of DC citizens is the now denied right to pass legislation and budgets without potential veto by Congress.

The struggle for DC Statehood is simultaneously a struggle for the economic, social and environmental human rights of our residents and likewise the latter struggle empowers the struggle for statehood.

Therefore, critical to building mass participation in the struggle for DC statehood is the empowerment of our residents, a goal that the Council and Mayor should surely pursue. The Council must insure a just FY 2010 budget that better meets essential needs of our low income and working class majority, especially in these times of economic depression. This will require making our presently regressive DC tax structure progressive by hiking the tax rate of our wealthy residents, especially DC millionaires, and giving tax relief to the bottom 60% income bracket. Revenue thereby accrued should be targeted to programs that better meet essential needs, especially to the sharp reduction of child poverty. In other words, the Council and Mayor should apply Obama’s promised federal tax medicine locally.

Finally, we strongly urge the Council to join us in petitioning Delegate Norton to permanently withdraw her Voting Rights bill which if passed would simply give her a vote on a final bill in the House and effectively set back our struggle for full self-determination to the indefinite future. In place of a token “incremental” approach, we urge Delegate Norton to submit asap a bill for DC Statehood, and join us in a now revitalized campaign for its passage, requiring a simple majority vote in Congress and signature by President Obama. We expect the Council and Mayor to join us in this effort.

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