The House of Representatives will vote on Friday on whether to make Washington DC a state, making it the second time that the House has voted on such a measure in the nearly 230 years since the district was established, but it is unlikely that Momentum led by Democrats. succeed due to strong republican opposition.
Lawmakers donned masks with a “51” printed on them, along with a red outline of Washington, DC, when the debate began Friday morning.
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The last time a statehood drive went so far was in 1993, and supporters of the measure say the momentum in the current climate has been renewed by both the coronavirus crisis and the reexamination of U.S. history. root of George Floyd’s death.
The measure, titled “HR 51”, would make the capital city a “community,” as would Virginia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. The measure would change the name of Washington, DC to “Douglass Commonwealth,” after abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Each state has two statues on Capitol Hill. DC, since it’s not a state, it only gets one statue and that’s from Douglass.
DC residents currently pay taxes but are not represented to vote on Capitol Hill. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution required the creation of a federal district to be the seat of government, and DC was originally divided into two states, Maryland and Virginia, so that no state would have undue influence by hosting the capital.
The city has very limited representation, including recognition at the Electoral College, a non-voting delegate, and a shadow senator who is not formally recognized by the Senate. The current incumbent, Paul Strauss, told Fox News that DC residents pay more federal taxes than any other non-voting territory and do not receive services commensurate with their population, which is larger than those in Wyoming and Vermont.
“We are essentially a donor state,” he said.
Strauss, a Democrat, specifically said that when it came to funding the coronavirus, Congress treated DC as a territory rather than a state, and Strauss said “we didn’t get the resources we needed.”
HR 51 would have DC Mayor, currently Muriel Bowser, Governor, and City Council serve as the legislature. The bill would give him two senators and a member of the House, and would eliminate the role of Congress in DC affairs.
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“We know that everyone across the United States now knows and recognizes the plight of Washington, DC,” Bowser said Thursday. “Not only do we not have voting senators and our congresswoman has no right to vote, but the whims of a federal government can invade even our limited autonomy.”
The legislation would also create a capital city district, a special political subdivision around the White House, government buildings, the National Mall, and the United States Capitol. That would be all that was left of the “District of Columbia.”
The legislation is expected to pass, unlike in 1993, where a bill to grant him status and change the name to “New Columbia” failed 277-153.
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However, the bill is supposed to be dead on arrival in the Senate and is also opposed by President Trump, who would likely wield his veto pen if the bill reached his desk.
Republicans are unlikely to be motivated to support such a plan, as it would almost certainly guarantee an additional member of the Democratic House and, more significantly, two Democratic senators.
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In a recent interview with the New York Post, Trump claimed that Democrats support DC’s statehood because the district is largely Democratic.
“They want to do that, so they pick up two automatic Democrats, you know it’s 100 percent Democratic, basically, so why would Republicans ever do that?” Trump said. “That will never happen unless we have some very, very stupid Republicans that I don’t think you do.
The last time the United States admitted two states to the union was in 1959 and that was done as a compromise, whereby Hawaii was admitted as the “republican” state and Alaska was admitted as a “democratic” state, although the policy I have turned from both states since then.
Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.
