On the recordSeptember 7, 2016
I appreciate this time on the House floor this evening because there has been a historic development in the District of Columbia. Today, a new group called Statehood Yes announced what amounts to bipartisan support for D.C. statehood. The fact is that the Republican Party of the District of Columbia had not always--in fact, had not been officially a part of the statehood movement, which is not to say that some Republicans have not been for D.C. statehood. But today was very different. Today, a D.C. resident, George Vradenburg, a philanthropist in our city, a long-term resident, and a former AOL executive, announced that he was chairing a campaign that is part of the effort of the District of Columbia to achieve statehood. That effort is being led by the Mayor and the City Council who, earlier this year, launched what is called the Tennessee Plan. The Tennessee Plan is simply a shorthand way to get statehood. The way in which my statehood bill operates is that, yes, the House and the Senate would vote for statehood, and it would then ask the city to submit a constitution and do what is necessary to become a State. The Tennessee plan simply reverses that process. It does what Tennessee did. What Tennessee did was what the District is in the process of doing. What Tennessee did was to present a constitution to the people to be ratified.…
