***NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION***


Make DC a State!


The right to vote for people who will fight for us in Congress is the inheritance of all Americans . . . except for the 706,000 residents of Washington, DC.  They have been denied that core inheritance.  This scar on democracy is a symbol of America’s enduring racism.

In the 1870s, white Congressmen, anxious about what they called DC’s growing “negro problem,” stripped Washingtonians of the right to vote. Not until 1961 were DC citizens allowed to vote for president.

Also, while permitted to elect local leaders, DC self-government is a sham. If Congress dislikes DC’s decisions, they can strike them down. DC doesn’t even control its own national guard, which exacerbated the January 6 Insurrection.

Now, at this dawn of a new Progressive era, it is a moral imperative to extend full civil rights to all Americans, beginning with a vote scheduled next week in the House to make DC a state. Republicans howl it’s a “power grab.” Actually, Republicans fear shifting the dynamic from sparsely populated majority-white states with a largely Black state that will likely elect more Democrats.

Call Your Members of Congress!

Tell Them to Make DC a State!


**ACTION ONE: CALL OUR U.S. SENATORS**

SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR SENATORS MERKLEY AND WYDEN:

“My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. 

For MERKLEY:

I support statehood for DC, and I want to thank the Senator for his support on this issue as well. I ask the Senator to help fix an historic and racist wrong by making DC a state.

SEN. WYDEN: Portland office: 503-326-7525 | D.C. office: 202-224-5244

My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].

I support statehood for DC, and I want to thank the Senator for his support on this issue as well. I ask the Senator to help fix an historic and racist wrong by making DC a state.

Thank you.”

SENATOR JEFF MERKLEY

Portland: (503) 326-3386, DC: (202) 224-3753
Salem: (503) 362-8102, Eugene: (541) 465-6750
Medford: (541) 608-9102, Bend: (541) 318-1298
Pendleton: (541) 278-1129
https://www.merkley.senate.gov/contact/

 

SENATOR RON WYDEN

Portland: (503) 326-7525, DC: (202) 224-5244
Salem: (503) 589-4555, Eugene: (541) 431-0229
Medford: (541) 858-5122, Bend: (541) 330-9142
La Grande: (541) 960-7691
https://www.wyden.senate.gov/contact/

 


**ACTION TWO: CALL REP CLIFF BENTZ**

SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR BENTZ:

“My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. 

I support DC statehood because it is the right of every American to be able to vote for people they want to represent them in Congress. This is not a power grab, but rather the extension of civil rights to people denied those rights simply because of where they live. I expect Cliff Bentz to rise above party politics and vote for the Washington, DC Admissions Act.

Thank you.”

ORD2 Rep Cliff Bentz

Medford: 541-776-4646
DC : 202-225-6730
Twitter: @cliffbentz

Email: Working on this one

 

 


**ACTION THREE: BE AN ACTIVIST**