For Immediate Release
Contact:
Bo Shuff, Director of Advocacy
202-462-6000 x119
DC Vote Comments on Republican National Committee Platform
“The platform agreed to yesterday by the delegates to the Republican National Convention seeks to continue to treat the residents of the District of Columbia as second class citizens. In addition, it runs counter to positions taken by both of their nominees in the past,” said Bo Shuff, Director of Advocacy for DC Vote. “The 670,000 people who call the District home deserve full and equal representation in the Congress, we deserve the right to control our own finances and decide for ourselves the laws under which we wish to live.”
The 2016 Republican National Platform, agreed to yesterday at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland contains some of the most divisive language ever in regard to DC Statehood and autonomy. The platform first makes a claim that Washington DC should never be a state because it “belongs to all Americans” and then later says that statehood should be granted only by Constitutional Amendment. It goes on to claim that since there was a vote on an Amendment forty years ago, it is not time for any other action.
The platform also ignores the previously stated positions from both Donald Trump and Gov. Mike Pence.
Donald Trump on DC Statehood: “I’ve really gotten to know the people, the representatives, and the mayor, and everybody. They’re really special people. They’re great. And they have a great feeling. So I would say whatever’s best for them I’m for.”
Gov. Mike Pence on DC Voting Rights: “The fact that half a million Americans living in the District of Columbia are denied a single voting representative in Congress is clearly a historic wrong.”
“The RNC platform ignores the recent court ruling upholding the citizen-supported Budget Autonomy Act, calling it illegal. In addition, the mental gymnastics required to tie our right to spend our money to specious claims about corruption, crime or gun control would land the drafters of the platform in Rio, not Cleveland,” added Shuff. “DC Vote calls on the Republican Party to stand up for their own values of local control, limited Federal Government and self-determination.”
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser will be in Cleveland today to speak with members of the Republican Party. This evening, she will attend an event hosted by Senator Paul Strauss and the Creative Coalition to call attention to the District's effort to become the 51st State.
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