Hoyer: DC's 'very large' black population makes now the time for D.C. statehood

"This is not just an issue of local governance and fairness. It is a major civil rights issue as well. We must bring to an end the disenfranchisement of 700,000 Americans," Hoyer said during a press conference with Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District's non-voting House member.