OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Washington, D.C. Admission Act

Floor Speech

Date: April 22, 2021
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Federal, State and Local Relations

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Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. Speaker, I am opposed to D.C. statehood, but I am not opposed to suffrage.

If your goal is truly suffrage rather than increasing Democratic control of the Senate, boy, do I have a plan for you.

My bill would reunite the residential areas of the District with Maryland, as was done with Virginia in 1847. This plan would give full voting rights that we have heard so much about this morning without ignoring the Constitution or the practical realities of what constitutes a State.

So I say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: If your goal is truly suffrage, then let's do this together. Let's set aside the divisive rhetoric we have heard, and work together to craft an appropriate and bipartisan solution to give representation to the people of D.C.

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