8/7/2019 51st State Resolution

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Chairman Kwame R. Brown Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr.2

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Councilmember Michael A. Brown Councilmember Yvette Alexander67

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Councilmember Marion Barry Councilmember Muriel Bowser10

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Councilmember David Catania Councilmember Mary M. Cheh14

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_____________________________ _________________17Councilmember Jack Evans Councilmember Jim Graham18

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Councilmember Phil Mendelson Councilmember Tommy Wells22

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A PROPOSED RESOLUTION25

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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA2829

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To declare the sense of the Council to encourage our Delegate to the U.S. House of32

Representatives to introduce legislation calling on Congress to use its powers under Article33

IV, Section 3, of the United States Constitution and admit the District of Columbia as the34

51st

State of the Union Resolution of 2011.35

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RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution37

may be cited as the Sense of the Council on Calling on Congress to Admit the District of38

Columbia as the 51st State of the Union Resolution of 2011.39

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Sec. 2. The Council finds that:41

8/7/2019 51st State Resolution

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(a) The United States of America was founded on the belief that all people are1

endowed with certain inalienable rights and that to secure these rights, governments are2

instituted, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed.3

(b) The rights of the residents of the District of Columbia are abridged when the4

United States Congress imposes its will on local matters and denies us voting representation on5

federal issues in both houses of the U.S. Congress.6

(c) The people of the District of Columbia are the only Americans who still bear all7

the responsibilities of citizenship, including local sovereignty and representation in both houses8

of Congress, making the District, in effect, a colony under Congressional jurisdiction.9

(d) Statehood will ensure that residents of the District of Columbia enjoy full sovereign10

rights in state and local matters, voting representation in both houses of the U.S. Congress, and11

an unrestricted vote for President, just like every other citizen of the United States of America.12

(e) It is the sense of the Council to encourage our Delegate to the U.S. House of13

Representatives to introduce legislation calling on Congress to use its powers under Article IV,14

Section 3, of the United States Constitution and admit the District of Columbia as the 51st

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of the Union.16

Sec. 4. The Council of the District of Columbia shall transmit a copy of this17

resolution, upon its adoption, to District of Columbia Delegate to the U.S. House of18

Representatives and the Mayor.19

Sec. 5. This resolution shall take effect immediately.20