G. K. Butterfield: “I thank Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton for her years of leadership on this issue. Mr. Speaker, from 1910 through 1970…”

“I thank Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton for her years of leadership on this issue. Mr. Speaker, from 1910 through 1970, thousands of African Americans from my district, and from your district, Mr. Hice, migrated to Washington, D.C., seeking employment and better opportunities than existed in the segregated South. They work and worship, and they pay their taxes. They own and operate businesses here in D.C. They teach in the public schools. They are Capitol Police. They clean our offices. I know very well that some of Ms. Holmes Norton's ancestors originated in my congressional district. Mr. Speaker, D.C. residents pay the highest per capita Federal income taxes in the country. They pay more Federal taxes than residents of 22 States. It is a grave injustice that they don't have representation in this body. It is time to say to the citizens of this city that they, too, are American citizens and deserve to be part of this great Union, with full rights of citizenship. What they don't need to hear on this floor today is for Members to say, ``I will never vote for D.C. statehood.'' That is irresponsible.”