DC Vote Stresses Need for Statehood and Self-Determination After Republican Interference in District Law

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 11, 2021

MEDIA CONTACT:
Devon Cruz
[email protected]

WASHINGTON—Today, leading DC Statehood organization, DC Vote, released the following statement regarding Sen. Mike Lee’s and Rep. Gary Palmer’s introduction of a Congressional Joint Resolution to denounce the District’s recently passed Minor Consent for Vaccinations Amendments Act of 2020: 

“Sen. Mike Lee’s and Rep. Gary Palmer’s resolution to denounce and ultimately overturn a recently passed DC law has less to do with the content of the bill and more to do with exerting federal power over the District’s more than 700,00 residents. After all, bills similar to the District law exist in many states throughout the country—including Alabama, Rep. Gary Palmer’s home state. 

Whether the Republican lawmakers like it or not, the bill was passed by a City Council, all duly elected by the residents of DC. Had this law been passed in any other state, there would be no question as to whether it should stand. 

This resolution is yet another example of why Statehood must be granted to the District, and highlights the growing importance of obtaining self-determination. How is it that a Senator from Utah and a Representative from Alabama can use their offices to govern the people of a District in which they were not elected? 

The residents of the District are just as American as the residents of any other state and it is long past the time to grant them the right to self-determination that all other American citizens receive. Only Statehood, and nothing else, is the path forward.”

#