Urging Support for Washington DC Statehood.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 461

Sponsors: Representatives Belk, Logan, Dahle, and Hawkins (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
March 20, 2025
*H461-v-1*
A JOINT RESOLUTION URGING MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO 1
ENACT FEDERAL LEGISL ATION ADMITTING WASH INGTON, D.C., INTO T HE 2
UNION AS A STATE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 3
Whereas, the people living on the land that would eventually be designated as the 4
District of Columbia were provided the right to vote for representation in Congress when the 5
United States Constitution was ratified in 1788; and 6
Whereas, the passage of the Organic Act of 1801 placed the District of Columbia 7
under the exclusive authority of the United States Congress and abolished residents' right to vote 8
for members of Congress and the President and Vice President of the United States; and 9
Whereas, residents of the District of Columbia were granted the right to vote for the 10
President and Vice President through passage of the Twenty -Third Amendment to the United 11
States Constitution in 1961; and 12
Whereas, as of 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau data estimates that the District of 13
Columbia's population at approximately 689,545 residents is c omparable to the populations of 14
Wyoming (576,851), Vermont (643,077), Alaska (733,391), and North Dakota (779,094); and 15
Whereas, residents of the District of Columbia share all the responsibilities of United 16
States citizenship, including paying more federa l taxes than residents of 22 states, service on 17
federal juries, and defending the United States as members of the United States Armed Forces in 18
every war since the War for Independence, yet they are denied full representation in Congress; 19
and 20
Whereas, the residents of the District of Columbia themselves have endorsed 21
statehood for the District of Columbia and passed a district -wide referendum on November 8, 22
2016, which favored statehood by 86%; and 23
Whereas, no other democratic nation denies the right of sel f-government, including 24
participation in its national legislature, to the residents of its capital; and 25
Whereas, the residents of the District of Columbia lack full democracy, equality, and 26
citizenship enjoyed by the residents of the 50 states; and 27
Whereas, the United States Congress repeatedly has interfered with the District of 28
Columbia's limited self -government by enacting laws that affect the District of Columbia's 29
expenditure of its locally raised tax revenue, including barring the usage of locally raised revenue, 30
thus violating the fundamental principle that state and local governments are best suited to enact 31
legislation that represents the will of their citizens; and 32
Whereas, although the District of Columbia has passed consecutive balanced budgets 33
since FY 1997, it still faces the possibility of being shut down yearly because of congressional 34
deliberations over the federal budget; and 35
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Joint Resolution 461-First Edition
Whereas, District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and Delaware U.S. 1
Senator Tom Carper introduced in the 117th Congress H.R. 51 and S. 51, the Washington, D.C., 2
Admission Act, that provides that the State of Washington, D.C., would have all the rights of 3
citizenship as taxpaying American citizens, including two Senators and at least one House 4
member; and 5
Whereas, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has called on the United 6
States Congress to address the District of Columbia's lack of political equality, and the 7
Organization of American States has declared the disenfranchisement of the District of Columbia 8
residents a violation of its charter agreement, to which the United States is a signatory; Now, 9
therefore, 10
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring: 11
SECTION 1. The State of North Carolina supports admitting Washington, D.C., into 12
the Union as a state of the United States of America. 13
SECTION 2. The members of the United States Congress are urged to enact federal 14
legislation granting statehood to the people of Washington, D.C. 15
SECTION 3. The Secretary of State shall transmit copies of this resolution to each 16
of the members of North Carolina's congressional delegation and to the Clerk of the United States 17
House of Representatives and the Secretary of the United States Senate. 18
SECTION 4. This resolution is effective upon ratification. 19