Recognizing the enduring cultural and historical significance of emancipation in the Nation's capital on the anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's signing of the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, which established the "first freed" on April 16, 1862, and celebrating passage of the District of Columbia statehood bill in the House of Representatives.

IV 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 295 Recognizing the enduring cultural and historical significance of emancipation in the Nation’s capital on the anniversary of President Abraham Lin- coln’s signing of the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, which established the ‘‘first freed’’ on April 16, 1862, and cele- brating passage of the District of Columbia statehood bill in the House of Representatives. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 13, 2023 Ms. NORTON submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability RESOLUTION Recognizing the enduring cultural and historical significance of emancipation in the Nation’s capital on the anniver- sary of President Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Dis- trict of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, which established the ‘‘first freed’’ on April 16, 1862, and celebrating passage of the District of Columbia statehood bill in the House of Representatives. Whereas the District of Columbia has been a focal point of the Nation’s complex racial history, which has included slavery, the Civil War, killings, segregation, and dis- enfranchisement, among other violations of civil and human rights; VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR295.IH HR295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HRES 295 IH Whereas, on April 16, 1862, in the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Colum- bia Compensated Emancipation Act, which freed the ap- proximately 3,100 enslaved individuals in the District of Columbia and authorized compensation to former enslav- ers; Whereas, on January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which established a ‘‘new birth of freedom’’ by legally emancipating mil- lions of enslaved individuals in the 10 States of the Con- federacy not under Union control, freeing the majority of the Nation’s enslaved individuals; Whereas the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which reads ‘‘Neither slavery nor in- voluntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation’’, was adopted on December 6, 1865, and effectively outlawed slavery in the United States; Whereas the enslavement of persons of African descent en- dured for more than two centuries in what is now the United States, including the District of Columbia; Whereas, in 2005, District of Columbia Emancipation Day, commemorating April 16, the date of the signing of the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, was made a legal public holiday in the District of Colum- bia to be celebrated annually on April 16; VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR295.IH HR295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HRES 295 IH Whereas the residents of the District of Columbia pay more per capita in Federal taxes than the residents of any State; Whereas the residents of the District of Columbia, who pay the full freight of Federal taxes, serve in the United States Armed Forces, are subject to all of the require- ments of citizenship, and otherwise have long made con- tributions to the life, culture, and leadership of the United States, still are denied the voting representation in the Congress and independence from congressional in- terference in local matters in violation of the basic prin- ciples of no taxation without representation and consent of the governed; Whereas, on April 22, 2021, the House of Representatives passed the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, only the second time in history the DC statehood bill has been passed by either chamber of Congress; Whereas H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, has 187 cosponsors; and Whereas S. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, has 45 cosponsors: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) recognizes District of Columbia Emanci- 2 pation Day, marking the anniversary of the end of 3 slavery in the District of Columbia and symbolizing 4 the aspirations of the residents of the District of Co- 5 lumbia for the same rights and freedoms afforded to 6 residents of States; and 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR295.IH HR295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HRES 295 IH (2) calls on Congress to pass the Washington, 1 D.C. Admission Act. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR295.IH HR295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB