Eleanor Holmes Norton

“The only way to make sure people you agree with can speak is to support the rights of people you don't agree with.”

“Statehood for the District of Columbia is the most pressing civil rights and voting rights issue of our time.”

“My whole life has been about confronting and eliminating discrimination.”

“You can't have a democracy if you are not a state.”

“I have spent my entire life fighting for the rights of others. Now, I am fighting for my own rights and the rights of the 600,000 people who live in the District of Columbia.”

“Our democracy is not complete until the residents of the District of Columbia have the same rights as all other Americans.”

“The District of Columbia is the only national capital in the democratic world whose citizens do not have voting representation in their national legislature.”

“We seek the rights of other Americans, nothing more, nothing less.”

“We are not asking for a handout, we are demanding our rights as American citizens.”

“Sexual harassment on the job is not a problem for the virtuous woman except in the sense that she must be virtuous.”

“The American people have a right to air that is clean, water that is safe, and a climate that is stable.”