Eleanor Holmes Norton: “If there is such a thing as earning statehood, and of course there is not, let me indicate the ways in which the…”

“If there is such a thing as earning statehood, and of course there is not, let me indicate the ways in which the District of Columbia has, indeed, earned statehood. Our economy is one of the strongest in the United States. It is a $12.5 billion budget total. That is a budget larger than 12 States represented in this House by my colleagues. How many of my colleagues can boast a $2 billion surplus the way the District of Columbia can? That would be, of course, the envy of most States. Our city has a per capita income higher than that of any State. We are not asking for any handouts. Our total personal income is higher than that of seven States. Our per capita personal consumption expenditures are higher than those of any States. This is a prosperous district, that would bring luster to the United States as the 51st State. Its growth rate is third highest in the Nation; 1,000 new people coming to live in the Nation's Capital every single month. As to our population, the population of the District of Columbia, is in the league with the population of seven States. We have a greater population than Vermont and Wyoming. And, if you look at the seven States that have one Representative, as the District of Columbia does, then you will see that we are all about the same. Yet, those seven States that are about the same in population as the District of Columbia, each has one Representative and two Senators, while we are unrepresented in the Senate of the United States.…”