So Congress can do what it wants with this land.”Īdvocacy for this pressing issue is all about education, according to Bo Shuff, executive director of DC Vote. But Maryland ceded this land to the federal government for the creation of the District of Columbia, and does not retain a reversionary interest in this land. “The second issue is whether or not this land must be retroceded to Maryland.
“That is not what is happening here, there is a clearly cut out federal enclave,” Hopkins said. The Constitution Admissions Clause says you cannot create a state within the jurisdiction of another state. Constitution’s District and Federal Enclaves Clause creates the federal District, and grants Congress the power to change the size of the District as long as it is smaller than 10 square miles – and the proposals in both the House and Senate bills makes it smaller than 10 square miles, Hopkins said. One of the main questions asked is whether, said Monica Hopkins, executive director of the ACLU of the District of Columbia. Magnify Photo Clockwise: Christian Damiana, Professor Amanda Frost, Monica Hopkins, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, and Bo Shuff. It’s why these hearings, more than anything else, have helped.” Or that we have a higher gross domestic product than any state, and that our bond rating is better than 35 states. “How do we account for these statistics? Because of our hearings we had in June, and how they educated the people….It was not until these hearings exposed the real facts that were people astonished to learn things like District residents pay the highest taxes per capita, or that our budget is larger than that of 12 states. The theme that most resonates with people is “taxation without representation,” Norton explained. “We have more than enough cosponsors to pass the bill, just as we did last time,” Norton said, adding that the “Data for Progress polls are very promising” and show that “we are getting closer to DC statehood” – 54% of the American people now support the effort. Last month she announced COR will hold a hearing next week on her proposed DC statehood bill (H.R. Now in her fifteenth term as the Congresswoman for the District of Columbia, Congresswoman Norton is the Chair of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit and serves on two committees, the Committee on Oversight and Reform (COR) and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
The discussion – moderated by Ann Loeb Bronfman Distinguished Professor of Law Amanda Frost – tackled the legal, political, and policy considerations around the fight for statehood, described the obstacles that have thwarted the effort in the past, and provided vision on a viable pathway going forward.
The event featured insight from various panelists at the forefront of the fight for DC statehood, including Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, whose District of Columbia statehood bill will be discussed during a Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing March 22. The ongoing movement to achieve statehood for Washington, DC has never been closer to achieving its goal. On Thursday, March 18, American University Washington College of Law’s Program on Law and Government hosted “The Road to 51: The Past, Present, and Future Of The Struggle For DC Statehood.”
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