Statement from Mayor Bowser on the Introduction of the District of Columbia National Guard Home Rule Act in the US House of Representatives

(WASHINGTON, DC) – Today, Mayor Bowser released the following statement thanking Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton for introducing the District of Columbia National Guard Home Rule Act in the U.S. House of Representatives:

“I thank Congresswoman Norton for her tireless efforts to bring more local control to Washington, DC and to give the residents of DC the same access to our country’s democracy that Americans everywhere else enjoy. The chief executive of every state has the power to call on our National Guard, and there is no reason DC’s executive should be denied this power. We already function as a city, county and a state, and in times of local emergency, Washingtonians should not have to wait on the President to activate the DC National Guard. This bill is yet another example of why, instead of trying to piece together the rights and liberties that Americans living in DC should already have, the best path forward for our nation would be to grant Washington, DC statehood.”