Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank my esteemed and tireless colleague from the District of Columbia, Congresswoman Holmes Norton. In this very Chamber, we have, throughout our Nation's history, long debated statehood for many lands and many people, and adding new States we have. In 1837, Michigan statehood was passed by Congress as the 26th State and signed by President Jackson, who proudly stated Michigan was ``admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States in all respects.'' In 1959, as we added Hawaii to the Union, the Secretary of the Interior declared: ``The great statehood of Hawaii will be granted and prove to the world . . . that we practice what we preach.'' Now, as we add Washington, D.C., and recognize the over 700,000 people, hundreds of thousands of Federal taxpaying people, to this Union, we reaffirm, we restore, and we continue to flourish our democracy that manifests to promote the general welfare.”