jonetta rose barras: DC statehood movement, without movement

Yet again, DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and others have raised the specter of DC securing voting rights in Congress, which have long been denied to residents of the nation’s capital. Last week, with Mayor Muriel Bowser and Council Chairman Phil Mendelson in tow, Norton introduced H.R. 51, which would make DC the 51st state.

“Our elected officials and advocates have not only come here out of duty, however. They also come out of earned resentment,” Norton said at the conference. “Earned resentment at paying the highest federal taxes per capita in the United States, despite having no senators to represent them and no final vote on the House floor. Earned resentment at the endless congressional attempts to overturn local DC laws.”

Norton celebrated the fact that the bill has “a record” 155 original co-sponsors, with 12 more signing on in the week since its introduction. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, has promised to hold a hearing and markup this year.

That all sounds good, right?

The number of House co-sponsors may have increased from years past, but the District has been here before. In 1993, legislation to make DC a state was debated on the House floor; a vote followed. The measure failed 277-153, even after then-President Bill Clinton had endorsed giving the District full voting rights in Congress.

Operationally, the District already is a state. It’s also a county and a city. The DC government handles all those functions. Consider, for example, that services provided by the Department of Motor Vehicles typically are handled by a state — not a city. Norton’s legislation would establish the structure for DC as an official state, carving out the federal enclave, and making the eight wards cities within the newly created state of New Columbia or Douglass Commonwealth or whatever it is ultimately called.

Unquestionably, District residents deserve full citizenship and voting representation in both congressional chambers: They pay more federal taxes than many other citizens. DC’s population of 702,455 — and growing — is larger than several jurisdictions that have states’ rights and privileges, including Wyoming and Vermont. And, whether or not it seems like a legitimate reason, DC has put up with more unprofessional, lame and irresponsible behavior from congressional leaders, including the current corrupt occupant of the White House, than any other state in the union.

The District literally is cleaning up the mess that President Donald J. Trump has created by shutting down the federal government, hoping to secure funding for a border wall, although he hasn’t spent all of the money appropriated for a similar purpose. If the DC government isn’t reimbursed for trash collection and other obligations it has taken on, then local taxpayers will be left holding the bill.

Raise your hand if you want to be relieved of dealing with inept politicians and madmen.

Norton and others have followed the model that was used to secure the federal Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. Then-Rep. John Conyers introduced legislation four days after Dr. King’s assassination in 1968. The bill went nowhere for years, until supporters began holding annual rallies and entertainer Stevie Wonder wrote his song celebrating King’s birthday. After a debate on the Senate floor that included North Carolina’s Jesse Helms pulling out FBI-collected trash to impugn King’s reputation, the bill was approved and then signed by President Ronald Reagan.

Despite the introduction of statehood legislation at the start of each new congressional term, it seems that many DC residents have lost interest in the issue, despite being denied what Norton has called “their birthright” and being put upon by national politicians who don’t represent them and certainly couldn’t find their way to the Shrimp Boat, although it’s only a few miles away from Capitol Hill. The last significant statehood rally occurred in 2007 when then-Mayor Adrian M. Fenty decided to take his electoral mandate out for a protest march.

How is it that DC residents can get excited about a women’s march, an anti-gun march and an abortion rights march but can’t get riled about being denied a basic right to vote on national issues that affect them today and could impact the health and welfare of their children for decades to follow?

Bo Shuff, executive director of DC Vote, which is essentially the chief organizing mechanism for obtaining statehood, contradicted my perspective. “I think people are interested,” he said, noting the number of residents who voted once again for statehood in 2016, the number of folks engaged as volunteers in the “Hands Off DC!” campaign in recent years, and the number of residents who have consistently shown up for lobby day on Capitol Hill, which is slated this year for Feb. 13.

“The energy is absolutely there,” Shuff continued, admitting, however, that the organization’s focus has been on securing support “outside” of DC. “That has shown dividends,” he said, citing the number of co-sponsors for Norton’s new bill.

The women’s march helped more than a few women win seats in local and state governments and Congress. A few DC Council members were ready to lower the voting age in the city because of the March for Our Lives youth anti-gun rally. Put plainly, large, visible protests have value and produce results.

Statehood proponents should not shy away from doing the hard work of holding that kind of visible and unequivocal statement of support, even if the Democrats have control of the House and are considered friends of the District. Sometimes, friends can be guilty of parsing out freedoms. Haven’t congressional representatives of surrounding jurisdictions stood in the way of the District being able to levy a commuter tax?

Shuff pledged more “aggressive” action around statehood. Let’s hope that’s not an empty promise.

jonetta rose barras is a DC-based freelance writer and host of The Barras Report television show. She can be reached at thebarrasreport@gmail.com.