Gray & DC Council Should Visit MD & VA

Washington, DC: The DC Republican Committee made the following statement today regarding DC Mayor Vincent Gray's postponed trip to New Hampshire. The scheduled trip, with several DC Councilmembers, was postponed due to weather conditions in New England. City leaders are using taxpayer recourses to schedule visits around the country to lobby for DC Statehood. New Hampshire is only 26% Democratic in the State Representatives and 20% in the State Senate. DC leaders were planning to use taxpayer resources to send a DC delegation to New Hampshire that is almost entirely Democratic.

"You don't need to travel to Concord when the Democratic Senators from Virginia and Maryland oppose DC Statehood. Our Mayor and DC Councilmembers should save our city money and start in Richmond and Annapolis. Instead of putting DC taxpayers on the hook for their trips up to New England and around the country, we should be focusing on our neighbors," stated Bob Kabel, Chairman of the DC Republican Committee.

"Taxpayer funded DC Democratic trips around the country will produce great photo opportunities for incumbents seeking difficult reelections and very little for actual results in speaking with elected Democrats and Republicans about DC issues," stated Kabel.

"Our elected leadership thinks sending DC Democrats to talk to only a few Democrats in NH is how to effectively advocate for DC Statehood. Serious questions should be asked, like why isn't our DC delegation bi-partisan and why aren't we speaking to Senators Webb, Warner, Mikulski, Cardin and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer," concluded Kabel.

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