FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 17, 2021
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New Report Tells Hidden History of Republican Support for D.C. Statehood & Representation
Former VP Mike Pence, Solicitor General Ken Starr and Senator Barry Goldwater Among Republicans Featured in Report
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, ahead of the June 22 Senate hearing on D.C. Statehood, Defend American Democracy (DAD), a bipartisan veterans coalition fighting for a more representative democracy, released a historical report revealing decades of public comments made by prominent Republican leaders and elected officials in support of representation for the people of D.C. The report, first covered in The Atlantic, was developed by DAD coalition member and Common Defense Organizing Director Perry O’Brien to remind Senators in Congress that equal representation for all Americans was not always a partisan position.
Find the full report here.
“Statehood for the district is a bipartisan ideal, rooted in values that both Democrats and Republicans share. Unfortunately, today’s GOP has abandoned those democratic ideals in pursuit of partisan power,” said Perry O’Brien, Common Defense Organizing Director and report author. “We hope this report shows Senate Democrats who make bipartisanship a prerequisite for voting rights, that while bipartisan support was once possible on democracy issues, that’s no longer the reality. We can’t let today’s Republican party — the same party that throws its support behind the "big Lie" as pretext to strip Black and Brown voters around the country of their voting rights — stand in the way of voting rights for 30,000 veterans and 700,000 residents in D.C.”
Highlights from the report include:
Former Vice President Pence: “...this legislation is a constitutional remedy to a historic wrong. Now, while many have focused on the political consequences of such a move, I believe the only question for a Member of Congress on such matters is this: What does justice demand and what does the Constitution permit this Congress to do about it?”
Former Senator and Republican Presidential Nominee Barry Goldwater: “The right to vote in federal elections is a right that flows directly from the Constitution to each citizen of the United States. This right is one belonging to national citizenship and it arises out of the very nature and existence of the nation itself… It is the right thing to do.”
Former Congressman Tom Coleman: “For many of us Republicans running for reelection, the vote was not politically convenient: We knew there could be political blowback from our constituents since it was certain our vote would result in the addition of three Democratic members of Congress – one in the House and two in the Senate. But the question was a moral one, pitting political expediency against a straightforward question of equality: Could we, the public servants charged with representing Americans in Congress, deny that same representation to our fellow citizens?”
Former Congressman Tom Davis: “It’s hard to argue with a straight face that people that fought and died in a half a dozen wars and pay federal income tax shouldn’t have federal representation...If they were voting Republican, they’d be there in a heartbeat.”
Excerpt from 1972 Republican Party Platform: “We support voting representation for the District of Columbia in the United States Congress and will work for a system of self-government for the city which takes fair account of the needs and interests of both the Federal Government and the citizens of the District of Columbia.”
Republican Party Platforms from 1956–1964 and 1968–1976 expressed similar levels of commitment.
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About Defend American Democracy: Defend American Democracy is a bipartisan campaign calling on Congress to put politics aside and remain accountable to the oath they swore. The broad coalition of organizations focused on national security and veterans issues includes Common Defense, Truman National Security Project, Protect the Investigation, Law Works, Protect Democracy, Stand Up Republic, Republicans for the Rule of Law, and National Security Action.
