Sierra Club Statement On the Senate Introducing D.C. Statehood Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Today, the Senate introduced S. 51, the companion bill to Congressmember Eleanor Holmes Norton’s House bill to establish D.C. statehood. The District’s only member of Congress, Congressmember Eleanor Holmes Norton, has no voting power on the floor of the House of Representatives. During the deadly insurrection at the Capitol earlier this month, D.C.’s Mayor Bowser was unable to call in the National Guard to protect the city because she is not a Governor. 

The Sierra Club passed a formal resolution in 2017 in support of D.C. Statehood, noting that “the rights of the residents of the District of Columbia are violated when the U.S. Congress imposes its will on local matters  -- including important environmental issues facing the District -- and denies citizens who live in the District of Columbia voting representation on federal issues in both houses of the U.S. Congress.” 

In response, Sierra Club D.C. Chapter Chair Catherine Plume released the following statement:

“The Sierra Club wholeheartedly supports D.C. statehood. On January 6, when insurrectionists, incited by Donald Trump, attacked the U.S. Capitol, the country saw that our Mayor lacks the authority granted to governors, leaving all District residents and especially DC’s Black and Brown majority vulnerable to violent white supremacists. We can’t wait any longer for D.C. to have the autonomy it clearly deserves. The Sierra Club applauds Senator Carper and Congressmember Norton for their leadership to ensure D.C. statehood, and we call on the Senate to pass S. 51 now. It is long overdue.”