.
@MayorBowser
says, "Before the 1960s ... we couldn't even vote for President. So, that's what the 23rd Amendment does. Its intent was to expand democracy to D.C. residents, and now it's being held up as a barrier."
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15
76
Replies
.
@RonJohnsonWI
says, "To me, this seems like just a naked power grab ... This is an elite group of people here [in D.C.] that have a vested interest in the power of the federal government."
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In response to
@RonJohnsonWI
,
@MayorBowser
says, "It would be incorrect to say that D.C. residents have more of an interest in the federal government than other Americans."
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3
14
.
@SenatorLankford
asks, "What is the barrier to retrocession with Maryland today?" Roger Pilon answers, "You would certainly need the consent of Maryland to do that," later adding, "This is not a normal creation of a state process."
2
1
4
.
@SenatorLankford
tells
@MayorBowser
that it was "odd" during the pandemic to see "such strong limits on people of faith gathering together." Bowser responds, "COVID restrictions were for everybody ... I'm proud of the work that we did."
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0
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"Believe me, I've had this debate with my own church in court,"
@MayorBowser
says to
@SenatorLankford
, later adding, "I don't have to remind you [that] our very first case in the District was in a church."
1
1
12
.
@MayorBowser
notes how D.C.'s African American residents died from COVID-19 in vastly greater numbers than their White counterparts. She also notes that Congress treated D.C. as a territory instead of a state in its $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package.
1
7
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Read more on the above issue in
@amanduhgomez
's article from Feb. 2021, where she wrote, "50% of eligible residents in majority-White Ward 3 received their first shot, while 21% of eligible residents in majority-Black Ward 8 have."
1
9
9
.
@MayorBowser
says, "Frequently, we're thought of a federal government town ... but the federal government's presence in the District of Columbia has actually been decreasing over a couple of decades."
1
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8
.
@SenatorLankford
says, "There is a tremendous number of Constitutional issues that still have to be resolved. Obviously, the founders designed a capital region to never be a state. I mean, that was the design in the Constitution ..."
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0
1
.
@SenatorLankford
further states, "It's been well-known that when you move to Washington, D.C. at any point, you're moving to an area that doesn't have two Senators or a House member ... That's a volitional choice. No one is compelled to actually be here ..."
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This is a good point to remind everyone that statehood has never had this much support in the chamber before. Still, there are four members of the Democratic caucus who have not stated their support. See who they are in our article below.
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.
@SenatorCarper
quotes Thomas Jefferson, "If the people know the truth, they won't make a mistake." But Carper says that there are many people in the U.S. who are unaware of D.C.'s large population, high federal income taxes, and more. "This is a wrong that needs to be righted."
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The hearing is now adjourned. Thank you for following along with us. Be sure to follow
@WCP
on Twitter for more need-to-know news on Washington, D.C.
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@wcp
@MayorBowser
And it’s no accident that both the Democratic and Republican Party platforms called for full and equal representation for DC for decades after the 23rd Amendment. Clearly reform wasn’t meant to end there.
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