Elijah Cummings: “I am very pleased to yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Maryland, Ms. Donna Edwards.”

We are better than where we are. We are better than this.

I am extremely proud that our committee is holding the first hearing on D.C. Statehood in the House of Representatives in more than 25 years.

On my mother's dying bed, 92 years old, former sharecropper, her last words were, 'Do not let them take our votes away from us.' She had fought and seen people harmed, beaten, trying to vote. Talk about inalienable rights. Voting is…

If we had a House and if we had a Senate that would pass legislation and we had a President that would sign it, this problem which is the subject of this hearing today could be fixed.