Hank Johnson: “Article IV, Section 3.1, provides that new States may be admitted by Congress into this Union. There is absolutely no…”

“Article IV, Section 3.1, provides that new States may be admitted by Congress into this Union. There is absolutely no requirement for a constitutional amendment. I was born and raised in Washington, D.C., spending my formative years in this great domain, and I grew up knowing that my parents paid taxes but had no voting representation in Congress. It was paradoxical that I learned in school that the cries of patriots, ``No taxation without representation,'' did not apply to the people of this great domain. We obeyed the same laws and paid the same taxes as our fellow Americans, but we had no hope in taking part in the governance of America. I thank the Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton for keeping hope alive. I am here today to say that it is time to end the legal disenfranchisement of a population larger than the States of Vermont and Wyoming. This vote is long overdue, and I intend to vote in favor of D.C. statehood, and I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes.''”