For Immediate Release: Monday, February 10, 2020
From the Office of Councilmember Evan Glass
ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 10, 2020—On Tuesday, Feb. 11 Councilmember Evan Glass (At-Large) will introduce a resolution in support of D.C. statehood. This resolution will be introduced on the same day that the House Committee on Oversight and Reform is scheduled to vote on the D.C. Admission Act, which would grant District of Columbia residents full representation in Congress and the ability to self-govern. This will be the first time that Montgomery County has introduced a resolution supporting D.C. statehood and the first time since 1993 that Members of Congress will vote on this important issue.
“Montgomery County residents are proud to stand with our neighbors in the fight for fairness, representation and democracy,” said Councilmember Evan Glass. “Taxation without representation is the tyranny that our founders fought against and it remains unacceptable today. As a locally elected official, I know the importance of having budgetary authority on policies directly benefiting my constituents. Residents of the District of Columbia deserve the same respect as any other tax-paying jurisdiction.”
“Thank you to Montgomery County Councilmember Glass for your principled leadership in introducing a historic resolution supporting full equality for the residents who reside in the District of Columbia,” said Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). “Your resolution from our neighboring county, as H.R. 51 will soon be sent to the House floor, is fraught with unique historic meaning.”
“We greatly appreciate Councilmember Glass and our neighbors in Maryland for supporting statehood, which we know is the only way to fix the injustice of denying 705,000 taxpaying Washingtonians their full democratic rights,” said District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser. “Making Washington, D.C. the 51st state is not only the right thing to do, but it would also strengthen our region by ensuring our collective interests are appropriately represented in the halls of Congress.”
Washington, D.C. is home to over 700,000 residents; Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton has been vigorously fighting for D.C.’s democracy since she was elected in 1991. And in a 2016 advisory referendum, Mayor Muriel Bowser helped lead the efforts in which D.C. voters overwhelmingly endorsed statehood.
A copy of the resolution text can be found here.
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Release ID: 20-046