Senator Carper Statement on Meeting with Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released the following statement following a meeting with Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser in which they discussed the Mayor’s continued efforts to ensure home rule and equal rights and representation for the 700,000 citizens of the District of Columbia. Last year, Senator Carper introduced S.1688, the New Columbia Admission Act, which would lay the groundwork for creating the 51st state, called New Columbia, and provide residents with full voting rights in Congress.

“I want to thank Mayor Bowser for her continued leadership in efforts to protect the ability of the citizens of D.C. to govern themselves. We can’t let up on this push for equality, especially when, just last month, my Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives voted to approve legislation to strip the District of its ability to spend their own locally-raised funds the way they choose to spend them. The people who live here in our nation’s capital start families, build businesses, pay taxes and fight and die in our wars like all other Americans. They deserve the right to manage their own affairs and to be treated the way citizens of any of the 50 states are treated—that includes full representation in Congress. Mayor Bowser is a strong voice for D.C. residents, and I will continue to work with her, as well as other local officials of the District of Columbia, the administration, and my colleagues in Congress on both sides of the aisle to obtain equal rights and representation for the 700,000 Americans who call D.C. home and protect the people of D.C. from further injustice.”

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