DC RELEASE House panel vote to limit abortion rights in DC is a wake-up call for DC statehood, say DC Statehood Greens‏

THE DC STATEHOOD GREEN PARTY
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org
 
For immediate release:
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
 
Contact:
Scott McLarty, DC Statehood Green Party media coordinator,
202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
 
 
DC Statehood Green Party: Vote by House committee Republicans to limit
women's reproductive rights in DC proves the urgent need for DC
statehood
 
• DC residents angered at Congress's power over DC should join the
'Limited Strike for DC Statehood' and push for passage of HR 265
 
• Statehood Greens say Obama and Democrats deserve blame for inaction
on DC statehood and a misguided focus on 'DC Voting Rights', making
such laws possible
 
 
WASHINGTON, DC -- DC Statehood Green Party candidates and leaders
called the House Judiciary Committee vote to limit the reproductive
rights and privacy of women in the District of Columbia a "wake-up
call" for DC statehood.
 
On July 18, Republicans in the committee approved a ban on all
abortions in the District after 20 weeks except to save the life of
the mother.
 
"The bill is a serious affront to the rights of all DC residents and a
special blow to the rights of women. It's possible for Congress to
draft a bill like this because the people of DC are second-class
citizens of the United States. Congress and the White House hold the
power to impose unwanted local legislation on the District --
something they could never do to any state. The outrage that DC
residents feel over the House panel's vote should be channeled into
action and protest in demand for DC statehood, which is the only way
we'll attain full rights and freedom from Congress's tyranny," said
Darryl! Moch, DC Statehood Green and co-chair of the Green Party of
the United States.
 
The House committee's decision adds special urgency to the "limited
strike for DC statehood" introduced by Ralph Nader and other citizen
activists in DC on July 9. (See "New blood for the DC statehood
movement" by Mr. Nader, July 8, 2012 in The Washington Post,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/new-blood-for-the-dc-statehood-movement/2012/07/06/gJQAOMoaSW_story.html)
Natale "Lino" Stracuzzi, DC Statehood Green candidate for DC Delegate
to the US House, spoke at the press conference on the strike
(http://nader.org/2012/07/02/dc-statehood-limited-general-strike-news-conference).
 
Statehood Greens said that Democrats deserve as much blame for the
bill as Republicans, because Democrats refused to move forward on DC
statehood when they held a majority in Congress during the first half
of President Obama's term.
 
Statehood Greens said that efforts in recent years by nonvoting DC
House Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and other Democrats to win 'DC Voting
Rights' granting the District a single voting seat in Congress have
turned out to be a damaging distraction from the demand for DC
statehood. The DC Voting Rights Bill, if passed, would have had little
effect on Congress's legislative power over the District. After
pressure from DC statehood advocates, Del. Norton introduced a
statehood bill (HR 265) in 2011
(http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:h.r.00265:).
 
"We're angry at President Obama, who promised during his 2008 campaign
to push for DC statehood -- and then never lifted a finger for us
after his inauguration. We're angry at Democrats for focusing on 'DC
Voting Rights' for so many years, which wouldn't have stopped bills
like the Republicans' current attack on DC women's reproductive
rights. Only self-determination and self-government for the people of
DC, in the form of statehood, will free us from Congress's power and
make us equal to Americans who live elsewhere in the US," said Ann
Wilcox, DC Statehood Green candidate for the at-large seat on DC City
Council.
 
"If this anti-choice bill passes in Congress, we hope to see a large
and angry protest, targeting not just Republicans but also Democrats
to push them on DC statehood and HR 265 -- and we urge all Americans
who support reproductive rights and democracy to join us," said David
Schwartzman, Statehood Green candidate for the 'DC Statehood' seat in
the US Senate.
 
Democrats deleted endorsement of DC statehood from their national
platform in 2004 and 2008. The DC Statehood Green Party is the
District's affiliate of the Green Party of the United States, which
expresses support for DC statehood in its national platform, as well
as full reproductive rights for women including unimpeded access to
abortion. On July 14, the Green Party nominated Jill Stein and running
mate Cheri Honkala for its presidential ticket
(http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=533 /
http://www.jillstein.org).
 
DC Statehood Greens have called the demand for DC statehood part of
the "unfinished business of the Civil Rights Movement," noting that
about half of DC residents are black. Congress and the White House
have imposed other unwanted legislation and policies on the District,
including a ban on needle exchange to reduce HIV transmission, the DC
Revitalization Act of 1997 that stripped District government of most
powers, and a prohibition on the enactment of Initiative 59 for
medical marijuana (which passed in DC with a 69 percent majority).
Congress has also attempted to meddle in DC's education policies and
gun control laws.
 
Although the US Constitution mandates a federal enclave apart from the
states, DC statehood would not require a constitutional amendment and
can be enacted by a simple majority vote in Congress. The borders of
the federal enclave can be altered by Act of Congress (precedent:
Congress's vote in 1846 transferring part of the District to Virginia)
to include only federal government properties such as the White House,
Capitol, Mall, and Supreme Court building and the grounds on which
they sit. Congress could then admit DC (proposed name: New Columbia)
to the union as a state by majority vote, as it admitted all the other
states after the initial 13 colonies. With statehood, DC residents
would gain full voting representation in Congress similar to all other
Americans -- two Senators and one Representative.
 
See also:
 
Talking Points, Quotes on D.C. Voting Rights Bill, DC Statehood, and Democracy
DC Statehood Green Party press release, March 22, 2007
http://www.gp.org/press/states/dc/dc_2007_03_22.shtml
 
Statehood Versus Voting Rights
DC Statehood Green Party
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org/sitemap/statehoodversusvotingrights
 
The DC Statehood Papers: Writings on DC Statehood & Self-Government
By Sam Smith, The Progressive Review
http://prorev.com/dcsthdintro.htm
 
Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition
http://www.freedc.org
 
DC Statehood Green candidates in the 2012 election:
• Natale "Lino" Stracuzzi, for DC Delegate to US House,
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/stracuzziforcongress
• David Schwartzman, for the 'DC Statehood' seat in the US Senate
• G. Lee Aikin, for the 'DC Statehood' seat in the US House of
Representatives, http://gleeaikin.blogspot.com
• Ann Wilcox, for DC Council At-Large
 
 
MORE INFORMATION
 
DC Statehood Green Party http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org
 
Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
 
 
~ END ~