Eleanor Holmes Norton: “Women who celebrate 100 years of suffrage this year have in common with the residents of the Nation's Capital this…”

“Women who celebrate 100 years of suffrage this year have in common with the residents of the Nation's Capital this: denial of equal rights in their democracy, requiring decades of fighting. It took 132 years since the Nation's founding for women to get the vote. It has taken 218 years, and still counting, for D.C. residents to achieve statehood, which includes voting rights and all the rights that come with equal citizenship. We are grateful that as we move forward to a formal vote on statehood, the House has already endorsed D.C. statehood in H.R. 1. Today, women set the pace in our democracy, outvoting men in national elections. D.C. residents yearn to join them in showing that those who are denied their rights know how to use them after fighting to achieve them. ____________________”