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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
House Memorial 1
A memorial to the Congress of the United States, 2
urging Congress to enact federal legislation granting 3
statehood to the people of the District of Columbia. 4
5
WHEREAS, the people living on the land that would 6
eventually be designated as the District of Columbia were 7
provided the right to vote for representation in the United 8
States Congress when the United States Constitution was ratified 9
in 1788, and 10
WHEREAS, the passage of the Organic Act of 1801 placed the 11
District of Columbia under the exclusive jurisdiction of the 12
United States Congress, and 13
WHEREAS, in 1961, residents of the District of Columbia 14
were granted the right to vote in national elections for 15
President and Vice President of the United States through 16
passage of the Twenty –third Amendment to the United States 17
Constitution, and 18
WHEREAS, as of 2022, the United States Census Bureau data 19
estimates that the District of Columbia's population of 20
approximately 671,803 residents is comparable to the populations 21
of Wyoming (576,851), Vermont (643,077), Alaska (733,391), and 22
North Dakota (779,094), and 23
WHEREAS, residents of the District of Columbia share all 24
the responsibilities of United States citizenship, including 25
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paying federal taxes, serving on federal juries, and defending 26
the United States as members of the United States Armed Forces 27
in every war since the American Revolutionary War, and 28
WHEREAS, the residents of the District of Columbia have 29
endorsed statehood for the District of Columbia and passed a 30
districtwide referendum on November 8, 2016, in which 86 percent 31
of voters favored statehood, and 32
WHEREAS, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has 33
called on the United States Congress to address t he District of 34
Columbia's lack of political equality, and 35
WHEREAS, the Organization of American States has declared 36
the disenfranchisement of the District of Columbia residents a 37
violation of its charter agreement, to which the United States 38
is a signatory, and 39
WHEREAS, District of Columbia United States Representative 40
Eleanor Holmes Norton and Delaware United States Senator Tom 41
Carper introduced in the 117th Congress H.R. 51 and S. 51, the 42
Washington, D.C. Admission Act, which would have granted to the 43
residents of the State of Washington, D.C., all the rights of 44
citizenship as taxpaying American citizens, including two United 45
States Senators and at least one member of the United States 46
House of Representatives, NOW, THEREFORE, 47
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Be It Resolved by the L egislature of the State of Florida: 49
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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That the Congress of the United States is urged to enact 51
federal legislation granting statehood to the people of the 52
District of Columbia. 53
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State dispatch 54
copies of this memorial to the President of the United States, 55
the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 56
United States House of Representatives, and each member of the 57
Florida delegation to the United States Congress. 58