Norton to Use Oversight D.C. Hearing to Make the Case for Statehood for 700,000+ D.C. Residents

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released her remarks, as prepared for delivery, in advance of today's House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson, and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb will testify. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. and can be viewed on the Oversight Committee's website.

"This hearing shouldn't be happening. More than 700,000 D.C. residents should never have been denied the full rights and protections that residents of the states enjoy, including the ability to enact their own local laws and policies without interference from members of Congress who are not accountable to the District," Norton said. "However, since Republicans are determined to use the committee's valuable time to question and disparage D.C.'s democratically enacted policy choices, I'll use today's hearing as a platform to highlight this injustice and make the case for ending the centuries-long denial of statehood for the residents of the District."

Norton's remarks follow, as prepared for delivery.

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Hearing on "Oversight of the District of Columbia"

September 18, 2025

District of Columbia residents have all the obligations of American citizenship, including paying federal taxes, serving on juries and registering with the Selective Service, yet Congress denies them full local self-government and voting representation in Congress. The only solution to this undemocratic treatment is to grant D.C. statehood.

I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a letter from leading constitutional scholars explaining why the D.C. statehood bill, H.R. fifty-one, is constitutional.

The Admissions Clause of the Constitution gives Congress authority to admit new states. All thirty-seven new states were admitted by Congress. The District Clause of the Constitution gives Congress authority to reduce the size of the federal district, which Congress did by thirty percent in eighteen forty-six.

H.R. fifty-one reduces the size of the federal district from sixty-eight square miles to two square miles, consisting of the White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court and the National Mall and remaining under the control of Congress. The new state consists of the residential and commercial areas of D.C.

The Admissions Clause does not establish any prerequisites for the admission of new states, but Congress generally has considered three factors: support for statehood, commitment to democracy, and resources and population. Eighty-six percent of D.C. residents voted for statehood in twenty sixteen. D.C. residents have demanded democratic rights for more than two hundred twenty years. D.C. has a larger gross domestic product than sixteen states and a higher per capita gross domestic product than any state. D.C. has a higher per capita personal income than any state. D.C. has a larger population than two states.

Republicans do not like that D.C. votes for Democrats, so they deny it statehood.

Mayor Bowser, Chairman Mendelson and Attorney General Schwalb, my question for each of you is: Why should D.C. be a state?

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