WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said that, as the nation today celebrates its milestone 250^th anniversary of declaring independence from Great Britain in part because of taxation without representation, Congress must take the nation's founding slogan to heart and pass her D.C. statehood bill.

"Forcing the nearly 700,000 Americans who live in the nation's capital to continue to live as second-class citizens doesn't just violate a main pillar of the revolution that sent our Founders to war, it betrays the very spirit of July 4th itself," Norton said. "On no other holiday is our nation's inequitable treatment of D.C. residents more deeply felt or more at odds with the nation's democratic values than on July 4th. District residents not only pay federal taxes without voting representation in Congress, they pay more federal taxes per capita than the residents of any state in the nation.

"July 4th doesn't allow us to look away. It summons our moral outrage to continue our fight for statehood, for equality, and for the full benefits of citizenship that these 700,000 Americans have always deserved.

"As my time representing D.C. comes to a close, I carry both frustration and hope. Statehood will not come on my watch; not under this Congress and not under this White House. But I know the fight I've waged for the last three decades has not been in vain. Every injustice I've named and every wrong I've brought to light related to statehood is a stone laid in the foundation for those who come after me. My hope is that the next generation of D.C.'s leaders will finish what we started, finally delivering the full measure of American citizenship to the 700,000 people who live in our nation's capital."

Under Norton's leadership the House passed the D.C. statehood bill twice, for the first two times in history. D.C. pays more federal taxes than 26 states and more federal taxes per capita than any state.

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