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Statement by the President Following Ratification of the 23d Amendment to the Constitution.

March 29, 1961

RATIFICATION of the 23d amendment giving the residents of the District of Columbia the right to vote in Presidential elections by the required 38 States is a major step in the right direction. The speed with which this Constitutional amendment was approved by the required number of States demonstrates the interest of the nation at large in providing to all American citizens the most valuable of human rights--the right to share in the election of those who govern us. Hearings on enabling legislation to implement the amendment will be held shortly by the District of Columbia Commissioners and a legislative proposal will be submitted to the Congress at the earliest possible time.

It is equally important that residents of the District of Columbia have the right to select the officials who govern the District. I am hopeful that the Congress, spurred by the adoption of the 23d amendment, will act favorably on legislative proposals to be recommended by the Administration providing the District of Columbia the right of home rule.

John F. Kennedy, Statement by the President Following Ratification of the 23d Amendment to the Constitution. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/234488

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