Press Releases

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) today presided over House debate on H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, before casting a vote to help pass the legislation to make D.C. the 51^st state in the Union. Beyer, who represents the Northern Virginia suburbs of the nation’s capital, is a longtime supporter of D.C. statehood, and an original cosponsor of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton’s statehood legislation.

“Every Member of Congress, regardless of party, should agree with the principle that all Americans deserve fair representation; but for too long this basic right has been denied to those who live in our nation’s capital for reasons of pure partisanship. The House of Representatives just took a major step towards resolving that injustice,” said Beyer. “I grew up in D.C. without Congressional representation. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton’s statehood bill was one of the first pieces of legislation I cosponsored after being sworn in as a Representative. I will cherish having a front-row seat to this moment history.”

H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act declares Washington, D.C. “to be a State of the United States of America… admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the other States in all respects whatever.” Full text of the legislation is available here.