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A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION
25-303
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
December 3, 2024
To recognize the 51
st
anniversary of the enactment in Congress of Public Law 93-198, the
“District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act,” which
granted the residents of the District of Columbia limited self-government.
WHEREAS, Washington, D.C. was founded on July 16, 1790, as the permanent seat of
government of the United States, with Congress having the exclusive power over such territory;
WHEREAS, the “District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801” disenfranchised residents in
lands surrendered to the District by Maryland and Virginia, preventing those persons from either
voting for representation in Congress or organizing a unified local government;
WHEREAS, in the early 1800s, D.C. residents sought and achieved modest concessions
in their attempts to attain self-government, including the right, initially granted to white male
property owners only, to elect a mayor and a local council;
WHEREAS, the city of Alexandria was included as part of the District of Columbia from
1801 until Congress passed a retrocession act in 1847, returning Alexandria to Virginia’s
jurisdiction;
WHEREAS, in 1867, against a presidential veto, the “District of Columbia Suffrage Act”
extended the right to vote to all males residing in the District, allowing African-American men to
vote in D.C. 3 years before the passage of the 15
th
amendment;
WHEREAS, by 1870, the population of the District of Columbia had grown to nearly
132,000 residents, with regional needs that outpaced the existing system of municipal
governments as divided between Georgetown, Alexandria, and Washington;
WHEREAS, in 1871, Congress passed the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871,
abolishing the office of mayor and vesting executive power in the office of a governor, to be
appointed by the president;
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WHEREAS, Congress further restricted self-government in the District in 1874 by
repealing provisions of law providing for the election of an executive, a secretary, and a board of
public works;
WHEREAS, in 1938, after a more than decade-long campaign by the Daughters of the
American Revolution, D.C. adopted its own flag, noting that the city deserved more than just a
symbol of statehood;
WHEREAS, advocates for District statehood continued to raise the issue in Congress
throughout the 20
th
century, with 6 bills introduced between 1948 and 1966 alone;
WHEREAS, the 1970 District of Columbia Delegate Act allowed D.C. residents to elect
one non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives;
WHEREAS, William Fauntroy, elected as the first delegate to represent the District of
Columbia, launched a vigorous campaign advocating for home rule and statehood for the
District;
WHEREAS, Representative Charles Diggs, a Michigan Democrat, worked diligently as
the Chair of the House District of Columbia Committee to build Congressional support for home
rule;
WHEREAS, in 1973, Fauntroy and Diggs championed the passage of the District of
Columbia Home Rule Act, which established the Council of the District of Columbia and gave
residents the right to self-government for the first time in over 100 years;
WHEREAS, the District will celebrate the 51
st
anniversary of the passage of the District
of Columbia Home Rule Act on December 24
th
;
WHEREAS, D.C.’s elected representatives to Congress still do not have the power to
vote on final passage of legislation, including on legislation directly affecting the District;
WHEREAS, despite paying more in federal income taxes than 22 states, serving the
military and on federal juries, and bearing all the other responsibilities of citizenship, D.C.
residents still do not have full rights to self-government and representation in Congress;
WHEREAS, as of November 2024, the District of Columbia has designated numerous
official state symbols, including a state bird, a state dinosaur, a state flower, a state rock, and,
most recently, a state amphibian in the form of the red-backed salamander, whose stripes emulate
the D.C. flag.
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RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That the
Council of the District of Columbia recognizes the 51
st
anniversary of the enactment in Congress
of Public Law 93-198, the “District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental
Reorganization Act.”
Sec. 2. This resolution may be cited as the “51
st
Anniversary of the Enactment of the
Home Rule Act Recognition Resolution of 2024.”
Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately.