I was joined at the tattoo studio by former ANC commissioner and candiate for DC Council, Bryan Weaver who got a cool Mayan “13″ that was done in the style of the DC flag.

I had been thinking about doing something like this for a while, especially since getting arrested a few months ago in an act of civil disobedience on Capitol Hill. It’s a great way to mark that event, and will serve as a permanent reminder of the work that will need to be done to achieve statehood for DC.

The timing also worked out well for a “DC Flag Day in the Flesh” rally at Dupont Circle that was organized by the awesome Allyson Behnke. It was a great event where everyone with DC flag tattoos gathered in one place and we got some good media coverage for the issue. Thanks to her and Adam Eidinger for getting everyone together.

It’s been a crazy year so far…I’ve been arrested and have gotten a tattoo!  I’m turing 40 soon, I guess this is my version of a mid-life crisis! Check out the videos and links below:

DC Flag Tattoo Day – June 14 from Brandon Bloch on Vimeo.

Showing off some inked skin for D.C.

DC Residents Celebrate Flag Tattoos in Fight For DC Statehood: MyFoxDC.com

RECOGNIZING THE DC 41

______

HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON
of the District of Columbia
in the house of representatives

Friday, April 15, 2011

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of Representatives to join me in recognizing the 41 District of Columbia elected officials and residents who stood up for the self-governing rights of the American citizens who reside in the nation’s capital by sitting down in a peaceful act of civil disobedience on Constitution Avenue in front of the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Monday, April 15, 2011. The rally, organized by DC Vote, protested the final 2011 continuing resolution (CR) which contains two anti-home-rule riders. The CR prohibits the District from spending its local taxpayer-raised funds on abortions for low-income women, even though many state and local jurisdictions have done so for decades. Without consultation with any District of Columbia elected official, the CR also mandates a D.C.-only private school voucher program, while the House Republican majority refuses to bring a bill to the floor that would allow districts that desire this alternative to select it on a home-rule basis. The District of Columbia is almost alone in the nation in establishing a robust alternative to our local public schools, our public charter schools, which educate almost 40 percent of the city’s children and have long waiting lists. The House voted to approve these riders while denying voting representation in this body to District of Columbia residents.

The D.C. elected officials who engaged in civil disobedience were D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, Council Chair Kwame Brown, At-Large Council members Sekou Biddle and Michael Brown, Council members Yvette Alexander, Muriel Bowser, and Thomas Wells, and House Shadow Representative Michael Panetta. The District residents were Ann Aldrich, Lafayette Barnes, Peter Bishop, Robert Brannum, Jason Cross, Billie Day, Jack Evans, Marc Ferrara, Corryn Freeman, Mary Gosselink, Lawrence Hams, Karen Hixson, Anise Jenkins, Eugene Kinlow, John Klenert, Rachel Madelham, Adam Maier, George Marion, Jr., Nicholas McCoy, Martin Moulton, Brian Pate, Joseph Perta, Jeffrey Richardson, Deangelo Scott, Deborah Shore, Carly Skidmore, Daniel Solomon, Bruce Spiva, Jay Tamboli, Maceo Thomas, Ryan Velasco, Patricia Vrandenburg, and Ilir Zherka.

The city has long advocated its rights through the usual channels and official responses. However, from the day the 112th Congress convened, the House Republican majority has repeatedly introduced bills to violate the rights of our citizens, beginning with the approval of new
rules that summarily stripped the District of the only vote on the House floor it has achieved, the House Committee of the Whole vote, approved by the federal courts.

The DC 41, as they are called, recognized that the House Republican majority intends to return with more anti-home-rule riders. An additional anti-home-rule rider was included in the original Republican spending bill, H.R. 1, but failed this time to become a part of the final agreement. The message of the DC 41 was that DC elected officials and residents will not walk away from the infringement of their rights to govern themselves and to spend their taxpayer-raised local funds as
they choose.

I ask the House to join me in saluting the DC 41, who acted in the long American tradition of incurring arrests during peaceful civil disobedience to protect and to further their right to full equality with the residents of the 50 states.

These harmful riders prevent DC from spending its own LOCAL tax dollars on abortions services for low income women, needle exchange programs aimed at reducing the spread of HIV, and also force a school voucher program upon the city which is part of an ideology to gut public schools and use government dollars to fund private ones.

These riders were attached to DC’s budget by GOP House leadership, but Obama and Reid gave in and let them stay on the budget, which means they’ll be next to impossible to get off for the 2012 and 2013 budgets. So they really screwed us here in DC. It’s hard to believe President Obama is now part of the problem…but the facts speak for themselves.

I’ll post some more concrete actions we can take in the next few days, but I urge everyone to come to a rally being organized by DC Vote on Monday, April 11 at 5:00 in front of the Hart Senate Office Building at 2nd and Constitution, NE.

This only re-enforces the fact that STATEHOOD is the only way this stuff goes away…forever.

=-=-=-=-=

TESTIMONY OF U.S. REPRESENTATIVE MIKE PANETTA
RENAMING PORTION OF PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE TO
PROMOTE FULL DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS THROUGH DC STATEHOOD
JANUARY 13, 2011

Thank for the opportunity to testify today on this important issue. I applaud Councilmembers Michael Brown and Harry Thomas, as well as Chairman Kwame Brown for their leadership within the Council on statehood-related issues, and I know I speak for the entire elected Statehood Delegation when I say that we are supportive of any and all attempts to raise volume on the national dialogue regarding the District’s lack of basic democratic representation in Congress and autonomy on local affairs.

Of course, I am supportive of the proposal to re-name a portion of Pennsylvania Avenue and to use the District’s gateway signs to inform and educate visitors about our unique status our beloved republic. It’s a great opportunity to promote our collective goal of statehood to thousands of people every year.

I do have some experience with this type of approach and I have long been a proponent of using the District’s buildings and infrastructure as messaging platforms. As you may recall in 2005, when the Washington Nationals were looking to secure naming rights for the RFK Stadium, I started a campaign to name the venue “Taxation Without Representation Field at RFK”. At the time we called our efforts a “grassroots campaign to name the grass.” Not only did the campaign secure thousands of dollars in pledges – only to be collected if the proposal was adopted – it amplified the message of DC’s lack of voting representation and reached entirely different audience than otherwise would not have been exposed to the issue.

Using a similar approach, in early 2006 I started a tongue-in-cheek “Olympic” committee for the District of Columbia and proceed to organize a curling team as the Winter Olympics were getting underway in Turin, Italy. I figured if other American territories with non-voting delegates in Congress could field Olympic team, then the District of Columbia should certainly have that right as well. This effort resulted in explosive media coverage on television and print publications around the world – it was even covered in TIME magazine. Granted it was seen as a good laugh, however every single story on the “Olympic” team featured the District’s lack of voting representation in Congress.

Additionally, the re-naming of District streets as a form of protest has been used in the past for other issues. For example during the Cold War, the block of 16th Street NW between L and M streets, in front of the then Soviet embassy was renamed “Andrei Sakharov Place” as a form of protest against his 1980 arrest and detention. I’m sure it pained the Kremlin to have to use that address.

The current plan to rename portions of Pennsylvania Avenue follow the same creative path of naming public spaces as a way to reach new audiences. However, given my experience in these matters, I feel a critical piece is missing. What is lacking from this proposal is the “hook” to make this worthy of sustained interest and not just a one-day local story. The question we have ask ourselves is whether or not this will move the needle on the making the District of Columbia the 51st state of the union. I think it will, but only if its done a certain way.

My suggestion is to brand the aforementioned blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue with a purely statehood-based message – perhaps labeling it as the “Avenue of Statehood”, akin to the Avenue of the Americas in New York or “51st State Way” as real-world visualization of our path towards statehood – leading us down the street towards the U.S. Capitol.

I also suggest, as part of this statehood centric plan to commission a plaque that commemorates the dates of admission of the current 50 states to the union – starting with Delaware and ending with Hawaii. The last line listed on this plaque, and one of the hooks, would be “New Columbia” with a date of admission yet to be determined. As an additional hook an American flag with 51 stars could be installed near the plaque along with signs with additional information about the campaign for DC statehood.

I urge the Council to reject any naming that does not promote statehood. Names that feature “voting rights” or “democracy” will not be clear in their intent – nor will they inspire any reaction or movement towards the ultimate goal. This is not the time to be timid, but to clearly articulate what we want.

I’d like to end my time by reminding the Council that while the adoption of this resolution is definitely a worthy cause – and has my support – it’s largely symbolic. If we are serious about achieving our goal of statehood, then we’ll need to be just a serious about finding the resources to get there. I’m well aware of the budget gaps we are facing a government, and the painful cuts to essential social services that are on the table. Yet, we need to find a way to make the necessary investment in the political future of the District. Only with a sustained investment and focused awareness campaign will be achieve our goal. I urge you to increase the funding dedicated to lobbying for statehood in next year’s District budget and to work with your own funding sources to raise additional resources for this fight.

Thank for the opportunity to present my thoughts on this issue.

##

REMARKS OF “SHADOW” U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
MIKE PANETTA
JANUARY 2, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC

Some of you may know this is my 3rd time being sworn-in as the U.S. Representative for the District of Columbia – but it’s the first time I know I’ll be serving the full two years. You see, the first two times I was sworn in, I thought it would be the last time we needed to swear in anyone for this position – as we were on the cusp of a real vote in the House of Representatives.

When I was first sworn in – back in 2007, we had just seen the Democrats take over the House and Senate – and the District of Columbia Voting Rights was poised for swift passage in Congress. It did pass the House that year, but as you may remember, we failed by 3 votes in the Senate.

Fast forward, two years later, in 2009 — not only did we still have Democrats in control of both Houses of Congress – but we were about to inaugurate President Obama. And on top of that, we picked up additional votes in the Senate. The District of Columbia Voting Rights Act seemed like a slam dunk – and indeed it did pass the Senate, but not without a poison pill “gun amendment” that would have eliminated the ability of our local council to pass any laws pertaining to firearms or ammunition as a condition for the vote in the House. That was a deal that we were just not willing to make.

So here we are, 4 years later and things are little different now on Capitol Hill.

We have new leadership in the House that is in all likelihood not going to be very supporting of expanded home-rule for the District.

Thing are somewhat better in the Senate, but we have a smaller number of known supporters and we will likely face attempts to limit our self-determination from Senators in both parties…

And, the District of Columbia Voting Rights Act, the legislation that we spend so much time and energy working to pass over the past 5 years has imploded. That particular bill was founded on a mutually beneficial arrangement with the State of Utah. The state had just missed getting an extra Congressional district in the 2000 Census…and was actively lobbying for additional representation.

It was a partnership that made sense at the time and the legislation was crafted for a very specific Congressional and political environment.

That time has passed. After the 2010 Census, Utah is getting additional representation in Congress– we are still not getting any – but Utah’s population has grown enough to get the seat that was in play during the DCVRA.

We all need to understand that the circumstances that birthed the District of Columbia Voting Rights Act no longer exist.

The stars are not aligned for reviving this legislation in the next Congress. The next state in line to get a seat is North Carolina – which has not of the political properties that Utah did. Key members of the state’s current Congressional district actively opposed passage of the first DC voting rights act. It would be a waste of time and effort to try to craft another piece of legislation along these lines.

I’m not going to sugar coat things, the next few years will not be easy ones on Capitol Hill for the District. We’ll all need to be vigilant and work to protect the gains we’ve made for budgetary and legislative autonomy over the past several years, and in just a few days I’ll be up on the Hill with DC Vote to protect our Delegate’s symbolic vote in the Committee of the Whole.

So yes, we’ll have our short-term battles to keep the progress we’ve made…and I’ll continue to be on the front lines of those struggles.

However, now….now is the time to re-commit ourselves to the only lasting, and permanent solution to our second-class citizen status.

All of us need to focus our passion, energy, and creativity into making the District of Columbia the 51st state.

Now is the time to look at the American flag and ask ourselves, Congress, and President Obama: Where’s My Star?

Only by removing the yoke of Congressional control and becoming the state of New Columbia will we be free and equal partners in the country we call America.

Only through statehood will change shed our colonial status in a way that can not be overturned by change in Congressional leadership or court ruling.

It’s not the easiest way but it’s the best way…in fact I feel it’s the only way to move forward.

If we are going to fight, let’s fight for what we want, for what we deserve: Full Statehood

This is not going to be a quick fix. It’s going to take time. It won’t happen this Congress, but let’s start moving things forward. Let’s introduce legislation, find co-sponsors, rally our supporters. Let’s be active in elections across the country to identify our supporters and do whatever we can to ensure they become members of Congress.

It’s not going to be a free ride. It will take more resources than we’ve ever committed to this issue. The modest sum allocated in the current budget is a start…but it’s going to take much more.

And most importantly it’s not going to just be given to us – we’re going to need to fight for it. We’ll need the kind of leadership at all levels that can and will energize and mobilize a truly national movement – bigger and better than anything that’s been done to date.

This is not the time to “fight the last war” — the strategies and tactics of the past will not achieve victory in the present. We need bold action, creative thinking, and the financial resources to engage at the level needed to get a new star on the American flag.

I’m very excited to have Vincent Gray as our mayor, Kwame Brown as our Council Chair, and the continued service of our Delegate on Capitol Hill…Eleanor Holmes Norton. I know the leadership of the District is 100% committed to this fight, but only with greater community involvement – from all wards in this city – can we can bring about a permanent change to our status.

Delegate Norton, could I ask you to join me at the podium?…it’s after Christmas, but I have a little gift for you.

Ladies and Gentleman, what I have here is an American Flag. However this is no ordinary flag, for this is one of the few American flags that truly represents everyone in this country.

For this flag…has 51 stars.

Let it serve as reminder of what we are fighting for. With your leadership, and with the passion and energy of everyone here today soon ALL American flags will have 51 stars.

Until then, we all need ask a simple question of President Obama and Congress. Three simple words that encapsulate over two hundred years of frustration of District citizens:

WHERE’S… MY…. STAR?

Thank you!

I invite you to join me as I re-affirm my commitment to statehood, full Congressional representation, and self-determination for the people of the District of Columbia.

Following the ceremony, I’ll be hosting a reception in my office in the John A. Wilson building. Details for both events are listed below. I hope to see you at one or both of these events!

Swearing-in of “Shadow” U.S. Representative Mike Panetta

January 2, 2011
1:00 pm (Doors open at noon)
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
801 Mount Vernon Place, NW

Post-Ceremony Reception:

January 2, 2011
3:30 p.m.
Office of U.S. Representative Mike Panetta
John A. Wilson Building, Suite C-09
1350 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

For more information please give me a call at 202-253-6534 or at mike@mikepanetta.com

She led the effort to reform our election laws, enacted one of the most powerful whistleblower protection bills in the country, and has worked to promote transparency and fiscal responsibility. She has been a champion of progressive causes, whether on the environment, healthy schools, civil liberties, or consumer protections from predatory practices.

She is widely known for her vigorous oversight of agencies and her relentless pursuit of a better quality of life for Ward 3 residents. She has also stood up for self-determination and legislative autonomy; for example, she was a critical voice in opposing the noxious effort to strip the District of its ability to enact gun control laws.

Mary deserves your vote because she has shown the commitment, experience, and judgment to tackle the major challenges facing DC. And I am proud to give her my endorsement. Please vote for her on November 2nd.

I’d like to thank my opponent for running a fantastic campaign and for raising the profile of this position. Nate Bennett-Fleming is one of the most passionate and hard-working people in the quest for DC Statehood, and I hope he’ll stay involved, as we need young talent in this movement. I know we’ll see his name on a ballot again soon and I expect great things from him in the future.

Of course I have to give a huge thanks to the great people at DC for Democracy went above and beyond the call of duty to help me. They are an endorsement that is more than a press release; they do the hard work needed to get their candidates elected. Their support is what got me re-elected, it’s as simple as that.

So many people helped me along the way  by giving a donation, handing out flyers, getting signatures, putting up signs on poles, or marching in parades . There are far to many to list here, but I’ll be thanking everyone individually over the next few days.

The most important people to thank are my family, especially my wife Cady as she is the one who was home with our 4 and 1 year old kids while I was out at forums, getting signatures, and campaigning for re-election. She’s very supportive and there’s no way I could do this without her help.  My brother Chris and my Dad Leo (not LEON) also worked key precincts for me on Election Day, both of which I won!  It’s great to have that kind of support.

Thanks for your again for your confidence in me. I pledge to keep fighting for a free and equal DC!