Thread by @digiphile

Today’s hearing on #HR51 will be on Monday AM at 11 AM: oversight.house.gov/legislation/he…
oversight.house.gov/legislation/he…
Context: statehood.dc.gov
Some Washingtonians will be showing up at the @USCapitol in support of #DCStatehood this morning. We may go as our daily civics lesson. 🇺🇸

https://twitter.com/theHillisHome/status/1373969793653608448

We were late to the #DCStatehood demonstration outside the @uscapitol, but I marched with the native Washingtonian in the family down through newly opened streets to peacefully protest for redress of grievances & freely express ourselves about Congress making DC the 51st state.

We're listening to House hearing on #HR1: Making DC the 51st State
oversight.house.gov/legislation/he…
Livestream: #DCStatehood
It is constitutional for Congress to carve out a federal district & enfranchise ~712,000 Americans.
It should so so.

https://twitter.com/digiphile/status/1009120826229231616

Our elected leader, @MayorBowser, is now testifying in favor for #DCStatehood, refuting the false claims regarding the constitutionality of #HR1

Carving out a federal district is constitutional:
statehood.dc.gov

Opposition isn't about money or legality: it's about power

"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."– Frederick Douglass, one of our greatest Americans.
loc.gov/resource/mfd.2…
If #HR1 becomes law, DC will become the Douglass Commonwealth, a fitting honor for the abolitionist.

Progress requires struggle.

Vermont (population 623,347) & Wyoming
(population 582,328) are both less populous than DC.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_s…
Should hundreds of thousands of Americans be unrepresented because they live in either?

Of course not.

DC's population is a specious argument.

#DCStatehoodNow

A meta note about progress: today's @OversightDems hearing livestream has someone signing for the deaf & closed captions.

This the right standard for all Congressional hearings online, which should always be open & accessible to all Americans.

#DCStatehood #OpenGov #a11y

Congress heard testimony that referenced the 23rd Amendment. Read & learn about it here: constitution.congress.gov/constitution/a…
Congress is not "nullifying" this with #HR1.
A federal district that has no residents would be entitled to no electors.
Argument on DC's area is specious.
#DCStatehood

Q by DC's Representative: Does the text of 23rd Amendment describe the population or size of the District?
Mainon Schwartz, Congressional Research Service attorney:
No

"Those who oppose only need to do what I have done:
Read the words written in the Constitution"- @EleanorNorton

The House has heard testimony on the Admissions Clause of the Constitution (Article IV.S3.C1.1.1.2), on the admission of & the rights of new States, including doctrine & practice:
constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/a…

There are no clauses about airports or car dealerships in the Constitution

If @CongressmanHice would like to “balance” the admission of DC with a pair, 2 states at the same time, I nominate Puerto Rico — if they vote for it — & the US Virgin Islands, Guam, Marianas, & American Samoa.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territori…
~4 million Americans taxed, but unrepresented.

There is nothing about the nature of commerce nor local economies in the Admissions Clause, neither retail, mining, manufacturing, agriculture, drilling, or tourism.

The idea that manufacturing, agriculture, & mining is "where the wealth of a country comes" from in 2021 is ludicrous.
Cf LA & movies, Silicon Valley, NY & stock market, & so on.

"We do not have any mines, Congressman, but we are investing in other energy sources"-@MayorBowser

Of all the arguments today, the notion ~712,000 Americans in the District won't be able to support ourselves because we aren't miners or farmers or factory workers is the most simultaneously archaic & ludicrous.
Would "No taxation without misrespresentation" really ask too much?

~11,000+ Americans from DC are currently serving in the US military & can be sent to defend our democracy & that of our nation's allies abroad, but none of them have full voting rights at home.
Those troops are disenfranchised, too
If you support our troops, vote for #DCStatehood

Opposing #DCStatehood because most folks who live in DC are registered Democrats isn't a constitutional argument.
It is naked partisanship, seeking to continue to deny the franchise to ~712,000 Americans who live here instead of competing for our votes. And yes, race is a factor.

#DCStatehood is not a political political plot, says @RepMaloney:
It is an effort to right the wrongs of 200 years of disenfranchisement.
712,000 people who live in Americans: they pay taxes & deserve representation.

Amen, Chairwoman.

& with that, today's hearing is adjourned.