Updated 6/10 to include revisions from the feedback session.
Proposer: Rev. Rob Keithan, All Souls Church Unitarian, Washington, DC
Brief Description
Unitarian Universalists in Washington, D.C., are calling on UUA, UU Congregations, and fellow UUs across the 50 states to join them in protecting D.C.'s Home Rule and advancing the cause of D.C. Statehood. For over 200 years, the now-700,000+ residents of the District have been denied full representation in Congress—a fundamental democratic right. Now, even the limited autonomy D.C. currently holds is under threat, fueled by racial animus, anti-immigrant sentiment and growing authoritarianism. Recent proposals in Congress and by the President would severely undermine the District’s authority to govern itself: restricting its ability to collect, allocate, and spend local funds; overturning local laws on criminal justice, environmental protections, and voter eligibility; and slashing essential services, including reproductive healthcare and sanctuary protections for immigrants. These proposals–and other more draconian ones–would strip D.C. residents of the existing rights of Home Rule and revert D.C. to a time when Congress exercised near total control over local policies, services and people.
Voter Justice, Racial Equity, and Local Autonomy = DC Home Rule and Statehood for the Citizens of the Nation’s Capital
BECAUSE: Unitarian Universalists have long recognized the importance of self-government and racial equity, both in general and specifically for the District of Columbia, in the following statements:
-
In 1962, Unitarian Universalists recognized the need for Self-Government for the District of Columbia, grounding that decision in our commitment to anti-colonialism.
-
In 2007, we called for Voting Rights for Communities of Color and Moral Values for a Pluralistic Society.
-
In 2019, we called for “universal voting rights that lead to and encourage higher voter participation rates” in Our Democracy Uncorrupted.
-
In 2021, we asked members to Undo Systemic White Supremacy, to “engage with the movement, in our communities and nation, to heal the evil of racism,” and “build relationships across boundaries of privilege and oppression” and commit to Stop Voter Suppression and Partner for Voting Rights and a Multiracial Democracy.
BECAUSE: Our UU history of support responds to a historical and political reality:
-
“Historic records are replete with statements of successive members of Congress referencing the ‘negro problem’ and the ‘color problem’ within D.C. as a justification to withhold Congressional representation.” (Testimony, House Committee on Oversight and Reform.).
-
For over 200 years, the now-700,000+ residents of the District have been denied full representation in Congress—a fundamental democratic right. Now, even the limited autonomy D.C. currently holds is under threat, fueled by racial animus, anti-immigrant sentiment and growing authoritarianism.
-
D.C. continues to experience taxation without representation: it has no Senators and its one Delegate in the House of Representatives can vote only in committee, not in final floor votes. Although the House has endorsed D.C. Statehood twice, most recently in 2021, the Senate declined to take up the matter.
-
The people of D.C. have articulated and passed a proposal for D.C. Statehood and named it the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth.
-
Under Home Rule, Congress continues to exercise its colonial powers by amending, approving or nullifying locally passed D.C. laws pertaining to women’s health, gender rights, education, guns, policing, the judicial system; exemplified in J.J. Res. 26 (118th Congress) which nullified the Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022, an Act designed to update D.C.'s code from the early 1900s to current standards.
WHEREAS, DC has experienced both recent attacks and dire future threats, including:
- President Trump has made multiple statements about the federal government taking over DC, including the police force, and on March 25, 2025, issued an Executive Order creating a task force focused on policing and other matters in the District of Columbia that includes no representatives from DC. Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful – The White House
WHEREAS, Without the sympathy, attention, and allyship of constituents in all 50 states, the residents of DC, including the UUs among them, cannot protect DC Home Rule for local autonomy, win full Voting Rights, achieve the desired DC Statehood, or make substantive political progress toward Racial Equity, in this regard.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT WE CALL UPON the 2025 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and its member congregations to:
-
Affirm our commitment to universal voting rights, to heal the evil of racism, and to build relationships across the boundaries of privilege and oppression.
-
Update their public position on the circumstances of D.C. residents: reiterating support for D.C.’s self-government and local autonomy, D.C. Home Rule, and now call for the formation of a 51st state composed of D.C. 's residential and commercial areas, while preserving a smaller federal district as the nation’s capital.
-
Urge Congress to respect D.C. Home Rule and vote to make D.C. a state, providing full rights for D.C. residents, similar to the admission of 37 other states in the past.
-
Take action with UU ministers, lay leaders, with leaders of other faiths, and partner allies, such as Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice, the Reeb Project for Voting Rights Project, and secular partners such as the D. C. League of Women Voters and Free DC, to organize and activate their UU congregants to educate, call, write, witness, and advocate for D.C. Home Rule and Statehood within our states and Congress.
-
Act in solidarity with the rights of the citizens of D.C. by:
- Holding education sessions with screenings of The Last Battlefront film and discussions to improve their community’s understanding of this injustice.
- Encouraging their congregants to sign the D.C. Statehood petition and promote it for others to sign it.
- Encouraging their congregants to contact their Congressional delegations to advocate for full rights through statehood.
-
Call UUs throughout the country—individuals, congregations, churches, and related organizations—to agitate in their communities and states for D.C. Home Rule and D.C. Statehood through non-violent means, and in cooperation with the residents of Washington D.C., and in loving care for those UUs among them, who do not have the reach needed to meet their goal of Statehood or protect Home Rule.
-
And finally, be it resolved that we declare to all, as part of our public witness, that we side with love for D.C. Home Rule and Statehood, finding it a moral deficit to deny full democratic participation, equity and autonomy to the residents of our Nation’s Capital.
Addendum of sources and further reading:
- The Last Battlefront (3.36 minute trailer) is a documentary that illuminates the injustice in Washington, D.C., one of the only capitals in the world where its citizens have no voting representation in the national legislature and where Congress and federal authorities routinely intrude on the local government of the District. The film looks at four turning points in the history of Washington, D.C., to understand how this happened and the struggles of D.C. residents to restore their basic rights of self-government that other Americans enjoy. The film is available for private screenings for community and faith-based organizations, among other civil society actors. Fill out this form to sign up for a screening.
Administrative Actions:
- March 25, 2025, Executive Order Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful – The White House
- In an interview on February 20, 2025, President Trump said, “I think we should take over DC.”
Articles and Posts:
- The Changing Face of DC Governance Over Time, DC League of Women Voters
- DC Statehood Explained, Brennan Center for Justice
- Clergy call for D.C. statehood to give voting representation to its residents, United Church of Christ
- House committee approves DC statehood bill 2021, The Hill
- DC statehood bill passes House, but Senate hopes are dim, Roll Call
- Don’t Fall for the D.C. Retrocession ‘Okey-Doke’, The Atlantic
- 50 Years Of Home Rule: Activists Say Statehood Is Only Way To Secure Full D.C. Voting Rights, DCist
- Marylanders narrowly favor D.C. statehood, unlike Americans overall, according to Post-U. Md. poll, Washington Post
- Your All-Purpose Wonk’s Guide to Why D.C. Statehood Is So Hard, Politico
- Statehood Stories: Why Statehood Matters for DC’s nearly 700,000 Residents, the Washington, D.C. League of Women Voters (LWVDC)
- DC Statehood Is a Civil Rights Issue and Civil Rights Community Letter to President Biden on Voting Rights and DC Statehood Legislation, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Congressional Resources:
- Testimony by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser in 2021 before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform (Video).
- District of Columbia Voting Representation in Congress: Overview of Proposals, In Focus 11443, Congressional Research Service
- Governing the District of Columbia: Overview and Timeline, In Focus 12577, Congressional Research Service
- DC Statehood: Constitutional Considerations for Proposed Legislation, Report 47101, Congressional Research Service
- Delegates to the U.S. Congress: History and Current Status, Report 40555, Congressional Research Service
- Parliamentary Rights of the Delegates and Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, CRS Report 40170, Congressional Research Service
Feedback session recording:
