June, 22 2021, 03:35pm EDT
Patriotic Millionaires on DC Statehood: It is Time for Congress to Act
"The seat of our democracy is also the site of one of democracy's significant deficits."
WASHINGTON
Today, the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing on a DC statehood bill, only the second Senate committee hearing on DC statehood in the country's history. This hearing comes in the wake of the US House voting in favor of DC statehood just a few months ago.
In response to this hearing, Laurie Sherman, DC resident and member of the Patriotic Millionaires, released the following statement:
"The citizens of our nation's capital have been denied the most basic representation in the halls of Congress for far too long - it is time for Congress to act. Washington, DC has a larger population than two current US States and a GDP larger than that of sixteen states, yet its 700,000 residents have no real representation in the Capitol that many live and work around.
The seat of our democracy is also the site of one of democracy's significant deficits. It is both absurd and morally repugnant that this unjust state of affairs has been allowed to continue for so long. I hope that today's hearing is just the first step in the United States Senate following the House's leadership and moving to establish Washington, DC as the country's 51st state."
The Patriotic Millionaires is a group of high-net worth Americans who share a profound concern about the destabilizing level of inequality in America. Our work centers on the two things that matter most in a capitalist democracy: power and money. Our goal is to ensure that the country's political economy is structured to meet the needs of regular Americans, rather than just millionaires. We focus on three "first" principles: a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens.
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