Phil Mendelson: “The D.C. Council's continued attempts to push soft-on-crime legislation and policies are emboldening criminals.”

Statehood is the only way to give to our citizens locally elected Representatives to enact purely local laws.

It creates a psychosis. It creates a lot of real problems. Who are the losers in this? Women and children.

Full and fair representation of the over 700,000 citizens residing in the District of Columbia is only possible through achieving statehood.

I hope this Committee will come together for substantive discussions on how to address our capital city's most pressing issues, especially crime.