Rep. Johnson Supports H.R. 51, The Washington, D.C. Admission Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04) announced his support of H.R. 51 – a bill admitting the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, named in honor of the great American statesman and nation’s foremost abolitionist Frederick Douglass, into the Union as the 51st state and give it voting representation in the Congress and full local self-government. 

Mr. Speaker. Article 4, Section 3.1 provides that new states may be admitted by Congress into this union. There is absolutely no requirement for constitutional amendment. I was born and raised in Washington, D.C., spending my formative years in this great domain, and I grew up knowing that my parents paid taxes but had no voting representation in Congress. It was paradoxical that I learned in school that the cries of patriots, no taxation without representation, did not apply to the people of this great domain. We obeyed the same laws and paid the same taxes as our fellow Americans, but we had no hope in taking part in the governance of America. I thank the delegate, Holmes Norton, for keeping hope alive. I'm here today to say it's time to stop the disenfranchisement. This vote is long overdue and I intend to vote in favor of D.C. statehood and I encourage my colleagues to vote yes. With that I yield back. 

Watch Rep. Johnson’s floor speech HERE