SJR 6: Supporting the admittance of Washington, D.C., into the Union as a state of the United States of America.
00 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 6 01 Supporting the admittance of Washington, D.C., into the Union as a state of the United 02 States of America. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS art. I, sec. 8, Constitution of the United States, ratified on June 21, 1788, 05 provides Congress the power to "exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over 06 such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the 07 Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States"; and 08 WHEREAS, on July 16, 1790, the Residence Act of 1790 was signed, transferring the 09 seat of government of the United States from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the 10 District of Columbia; and 11 WHEREAS, on May 15, 1800, Congress adjourned its last meeting in Philadelphia; 12 and 13 WHEREAS, in accordance with the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, the 14 District of Columbia became organized and under the total control of Congress on 15 February 27, 1801; and
01 WHEREAS, through passage of the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, 02 residents of the District of Columbia, despite paying federal taxes, serving in the military, and 03 sharing all other responsibilities of citizenship of the United States, were no longer considered 04 citizens of a state or entitled to the rights, guaranties, and immunities of the Constitution of 05 the United States, including the right to appoint the number of electors of President and Vice 06 President of the United States equal to the whole number of senators and representatives to 07 Congress that the District of Columbia would be entitled to if it were a state, but not more 08 than the least populous state, the right to elect two senators and at least one representative to 09 Congress, and the right to self-govern and ratify proposed amendments to the Constitution of 10 the United States; and 11 WHEREAS, on June 16, 1960, Congress proposed the Twenty-Third Amendment to 12 the Constitution of the United States, and, on March 29, 1961, the amendment was ratified by 13 a sufficient number of states; and 14 WHEREAS the Twenty-Third Amendment to the Constitution of the United States 15 grants the District of Columbia the right to provide citizens of the District of Columbia 16 appropriate rights of voting in national elections for President and Vice President; and 17 WHEREAS, on September 22, 1970, in accordance with the District of Columbia 18 Election Act, Congress granted a Delegate to the House of Representatives from the District 19 of Columbia, after previously establishing the position on February 21, 1871, and repealing 20 the position on June 20, 1874; and 21 WHEREAS the Delegate was granted a seat in the House of Representatives with the 22 right of debate, but not of voting; and 23 WHEREAS, through enactment of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act by 24 Congress on December 24, 1973, and ratification of the Charter Referendum by a majority of 25 the voters of the District of Columbia on May 7, 1974, the District of Columbia was 26 reorganized, and an elected 13-member Council of the District of Columbia and an elected 27 Mayor of the District of Columbia were granted limited powers of local self-government to 28 relieve Congress of the burden of legislating on local matters; and 29 WHEREAS Congress granted no local control over the judiciary and reserved the 30 right to exercise its constitutional authority as the legislature for the District of Columbia and 31 to enact legislation for the District of Columbia on any subject, whether within or without the
01 scope of legislative power granted to the Council of the District of Columbia, including 02 legislation to amend or repeal any law in force in the District of Columbia; and 03 WHEREAS Congress and the President of the United States have historically 04 interfered with the District of Columbia's local self-government and home rule by enacting 05 resolutions disapproving, amending, and repealing actions of the Council of the District of 06 Columbia and the Mayor of the District of Columbia, including cases concerning the location 07 of chanceries on December 20, 1979, sexual assault reform on October 1, 1981, schedule of 08 heights on March 12, 1991, and a revised criminal code on March 20, 2023, and by imposing 09 budget riders that control and limit the use of locally raised tax revenue, including cases 10 concerning reproductive health services, cannabis use, and statehood advocacy; and 11 WHEREAS, on multiple occasions, a majority of the voters of the District of 12 Columbia have approved initiatives and referenda expressing the voters' desire for statehood; 13 and 14 WHEREAS, most recently, on November 8, 2016, 85.69 percent of voters agreed that 15 the District of Columbia should be admitted to the Union as the State of Washington, D.C., 16 approved the Constitution of the State of Washington, D.C., approved the proposed 17 boundaries between the State of Washington, D.C., and the federal enclave, and agreed that 18 the State of Washington, D.C., shall guarantee an elected representative form of government; 19 and 20 WHEREAS other state and territorial legislatures in the United States have 21 introduced, debated, and passed resolutions that support admitting Washington, D.C., into the 22 Union as a state of the United States of America; and 23 WHEREAS, despite the Constitution of the United States establishing that new states 24 may be admitted by Congress into the Union, and despite the United States House of 25 Representatives passing the Washington, D.C. Admission Act on June 26, 2020, and again on 26 April 22, 2021, which would declare Washington, D.C., to be a state of the United States of 27 America and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the other states in all respects, 28 Congress has yet to grant full statehood to the approximately 700,000 people of Washington, 29 D.C.; 30 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports admitting Washington, 31 D.C., into the Union as a state of the United States of America; and be it
01 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature opposes efforts by 02 Congress and the President of the United States that interfere with local self-government and 03 home rule, including federal laws disapproving, amending, and repealing actions of the 04 Council of the District of Columbia and the Mayor of the District of Columbia, as well as 05 federal budget riders that control and limit the use of locally raised tax revenue; and be it 06 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature calls on Congress and the 07 President of the United States to enact federal legislation granting statehood to the people of 08 Washington, D.C. 09 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President 10 of the United States; the Honorable J. D. Vance, Vice President of the United States and 11 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Mike Johnson, Speaker of the U.S. House of 12 Representatives; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. 13 Senators, and the Honorable Nick Begich, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 14 delegation in Congress.