Elijah Cummings: “Preserve what you have. Protect what you have.”

That year, Bayou La Batre did elect its first Asian-American city council member.

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…

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.

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