WASHINGTON — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton announced Saturday that the very first hearing for D.C. statehood (H.R. 51) has been postponed.
Norton requested to postpone the hearing, originally scheduled for July 24, because special counsel Robert Mueller will testify before House committees that day.
“Our statehood hearing is essential to move our bill to passage, but it serves another important purpose as well,” Norton said in a press release Saturday. "This hearing will inform people of what most do not know – that the residents of their nation’s capital do not have full voting rights in the House and have no representation in the Senate."
"We will use this postponement to nationalize our efforts, giving national attention to the disenfranchisement of D.C. residents and to continue to build support for the bill in the House, Senate and across the country."
According to Norton, the bill has a record 213 voting co-sponsors and more than 100 groups have endorsed the bill.
This hearing, likely to happen in September, will be the first House hearing on D.C. statehood in 26 years.
