DC Vote and Statehood Movement Allies Release Letter Urging Congress to Leave Their #HandsOffDC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 11th, 2023

PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]

Washington, DC – DC Vote, the nation’s leading advocacy and education organization working for DC Statehood, along with over 70 allied organizations released a letter earlier this morning addressed to both the Senate Committee on Appropriations and its respective counterpart in the House of Representatives. The letter asked the two committees to remove all language usurping local control and imposing the will of Congress onto the 700,000 residents of Washington, DC from the District of Columbia FY2024 appropriations. 

This latest coalition of groups included in DC Vote’s letter is urging Congress to reject these interferences and allow for the right of the people of the District of Columbia to govern themselves. 

After the letter was publicly released, DC Vote’s communications director Patrice Snow released the following statement:

“All across the country, Americans are debating local issues that affect their lives. However, what isn’t up for debate is who gets to fundamentally decide these questions. DC’s locally elected leadership should decide what is best for the people of the District of Columbia and not random representatives and Senators from arbitrary places like Georgia or Arizona. The Mayor and the Council of the District of Columbia were elected by DC residents to represent our interests and needs and they don’t interfere or impose their values on any other jurisdiction in the country. So why do it to DC? Americans living in the District have no vote in Congress to cast against this ongoing, relentless attack on democracy and we urge both Appropriations Committees to pass the FY2024 District of Columbia appropriation without any interference in the local laws or programs of the District and allow the people of DC to govern themselves.”

The letter reads:

Dear Senators and Representatives: 

We, the undersigned organizations, urge the Appropriations Committees to remove all language which has the effect of usurping local control and imposing the will of the Congress onto the local 700,000 residents  of the District of Columbia from the District of Columbia FY 2024 Appropriations. Legislative budget “riders”  go against the intent of the Home Rule Act and remove the limited home-rule it intended. 

The 118th Congress has seen a marked increase in Congressional interference than in the recent past and  we urge Congress to reject these engagements and allow for the right of the people of DC to govern  

themselves. In just six months, Congress has chosen to weigh in on: 

• Revisions to the local DC Criminal Code 

• The District’s ability to issue traffic tickets for illegal right turns on red 

• The District’s ability to utilize cameras for traffic safety 

• Renaming a local street 

• Qualifications for voting in DC local elections 

• Methodology for conducting local DC elections 

• The ability to implement a taxation and regulation program for adult-use cannabis 

• DC’s autonomy to cover reproductive and sexual health care including spending local funds and  

protecting employees from discrimination for their reproductive health care decisions 

• The District’s Death with Dignity Act 

• The DC local version of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act 

These local laws were enacted to address concerns that are important to the more than 700,000 residents who call Washington, DC home. When Congress attempts to impose legislative riders, they seek to overturn the work of our locally elected officials and ignore the voices of our neighbors.

Right now, Americans are debating these and other issues in communities throughout this country. But, what is not up for debate is who gets to decide these questions. DC’s locally elected leadership should decide what is best for the people of the District of Columbia. The Mayor and the Council of the District of  Columbia were elected by DC residents to represent our interests. Congress does not impose its views on  any other local jurisdiction, and Americans in DC have no vote in the Congress to cast against this ongoing, relentless attack on local democracy. Until such time that the residents of the District achieve full equality  through Statehood, we expect Congress to allow District residents to manage their own affairs without  interference or meddling.  

The undersigned organizations, collectively representing millions of Americans, advocate on diverse issues and are united in our opposition to the inclusion of any language in the appropriations bill that overrides, limits, or otherwise usurps local government decision-making by the District of Columbia. We urge the Committees to pass the FY 2024 District of Columbia Appropriation without any interference in the local laws or programs of the District and allow the people of DC to govern themselves.  

Sincerely, 

DC Vote 

All* Above All Action Fund  

American Association of University Women 

American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia 

American Ethical Union 

Anacostia Coordinating Council 

Bend the Arc: Jewish Action 

Better Organizing to Win Legalization 

Black Voters Matter Fund 

Brookland Huddle for the Future 

DC Democratic Party 

DC Developmental Disabilities Council 

DC Federation of Community Associations  

DC Fiscal Policy Institute  

DC for Democracy  

DC Justice Lab 

DC Statehood Coalition 

DC Voters for Animals 

Death with Dignity 

Defending Rights & Dissent 

DemCast USA 

Democrats for Education Reform DC            

Drug Policy Alliance

Endangered Species Coalition 

Family Values@Work Action 

Fourth Branch Action 

Friends of the Earth 

Get Money Out – Maryland 

Greenpeace USA 

GRID Alternatives Mid-Atlantic 

Harriet’s Wildest Dreams 

Human Rights Campaign 

Indivisible 

Indivisible Northern Nevada 

Indivisible Santa Fe 

Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG)

League of Conservation Voters 

League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia 

League of Women Voters of the United States

Life By Design 

Long Live GoGo 

Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO

Moms Rising

NARAL Pro-Choice America

National Employment Law Project

National Council of Jewish Women

National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)

National Partnership for Women & Families

National Women’s Law Center 

Neighbors United for DC Statehood 

Netroots Nation 

Oregonizers 

People For the American Way 

Planned Parenthood Federation of America 

Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan  Washington, DC 

Public Citizen 

Public Justice Center 

Rebuilding Independence My Style
RepresentUs 

ROC United 

SEIU 32BJ 

Sierra Club 

Statehood4DC 

The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund 

The Workers Circle 

United Church of Christ 

URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity  

Venice Resistance 

Voices for Progress 

Voters of Tomorrow 

Washington Ethical Society 

Who Speaks For Me? 

Women Lawyers On Guard Action Network, Inc. 

Women’s Bar Association of the District of  Columbia 

 

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