Washington, D.C. Admission Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. KELLY of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 51.

For more than 200 years, Americans living in the District of Columbia--many of whom serve the people of this great Nation as public servants--have been denied the right to self-government. That is a founding principle of our great Nation.

Mr. Speaker, today, D.C. is home to more than 700,000 Americans and, yet, they have no voting Members of Congress and no voice in the Senate.

Establishing Washington, Douglass Commonwealth would not create our Nation's smallest State by population, nor would it be reliant on the Federal Government to survive.

There are States with smaller populations and many other States that are far more dependent on Federal assistance.

Despite paying more in total Federal income tax than the residents of 22 other States, D.C. is continually treated like a territory instead of a State in funding bills. These calculations starve the local government of the funds they rightly deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues listen to the voice of our Founding Fathers, who we keep hearing about. ``No taxation without representation.'' Well, D.C. pays its taxes. It deserves a voice in Congress. And let's be clear about who is playing politics.

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