Brady Urges the U.S. Senate to Pass the Washington D.C. Admission Act

BRADY THANKS SEN. TOM CARPER FOR INTRODUCING S.51, WHICH WOULD MAKE D.C. THE 51ST STATE

Washington, D.C., January 28, 2021 - Brady thanks Sen. Tom Carper (DE) for introducing S.51, the Washington D.C. Admission Act, which would make Washington, D.C. the 51st state. In championing this cause, Sen. Carper has recognized the voices and rights of the over 700,000 D.C. residents that have been denied for too long. The issue of D.C. statehood cuts to the heart of our democracy as the citizens of D.C., who are disproportionately impacted by gun violence, have no voting representatives in Congress and have seen their local laws used as bargaining chips by federal legislators to score political points back home.

Brady President Kris Brown shared:

“It is long past time for Washington, D.C. to become the 51st state. Sen. Carper’s bill would expand our democracy, creating a more representative government that would respond to the needs of its citizens, including those in Washington D.C. With gun violence on the rise in D.C. for the 3rd consecutive year and homicides at a 16 year high, it is an egregious injustice that residents have no vote in Congress to protect them from firearms proliferating in the District, imported from states with weaker laws. It is past time for D.C. statehood. Washington D.C.’s population exceeds that of two states, yet these citizens have no vote in our Congress.

As the institutions of our republic have recently come under attack, both rhetorically and literally, it is more imperative than ever to expand the rights and representation of the citizens of Washington, D.C. The residents of D.C. pay the highest per capita federal tax rate in the country, but they are at the mercy of the federal government when enacting their own laws or when they need to deploy or control contingents of the national guard. We cannot reflect the will of the people without a Congress that responds to all of its citizens and the citizens of D.C. deserve to be at the table.

It is essential that the Senate pass this bill, just as the U.S. House of Representatives prioritized this issue under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and D.C.’s Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton in the 116th Congress.

Brady thanks Sen. Carper for introducing this important legislation and we look forward to working with him on making D.C. the 51st state.”

Brady is a proud member of51 for 51, a coalition of D.C.-based and national groups committed to equal-representation rights for D.C’s 700,000 disenfranchised residents. D.C. statehood is essential in the effort to create a more functional democracy that responds to the needs of all its residents. These needs include gun violence prevention legislation, which consistently enjoy support from overwhelming and bipartisan majorities of Americans yet are stopped by outmoded legislative procedures and systems where elected officials are not held accountable to the American people.