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Democrats Pass Bill To Make D.C. The 51st State
The U.S. House of Representatives has once again voted on a bill to grant statehood to Washington, D.C., and enfranchise more than 712,000 Americans, a cause that enjoys unprecedented support but still faces an uphill battle in the U.S. Senate.
"This country was founded on the principles of no taxation without representation and consent of the governed. But D.C. residents are taxed without representation and cannot consent to the laws under which they as American citizens must live," said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District's nonvoting delegate, on the House floor ahead of the vote.
Her statehood bill, H.R. 51, would reduce the size of the federal district and create a new state with the remaining territory with two U.S. senators and a representative, placing residents on equal footing with voters in other states. Statehood advocates contend the cause is also a fight for racial justice. If admitted, Washington, D.C., would be the first state with a plurality of Black residents.
In Ward 6 at Maine Ave SW in front of The Wharf, Emma P. Ward, left, (Ms. Senior District of Columbia 2011) and Joyce Robinson-Paul show their support for D.C. statehood.
"The folks who live in the beacon of democracy that is the nation's capitol don't have a voice," says Ravi Perry, chair of the political science department at Howard University and board member of DC Vote, a statehood advocacy organization.
House Democrats passed Norton's bill last year in a historic vote, but the legislation never reached the GOP-led Senate.
Now, with Democrats controlling the White House and the Senate, the effort to make D.C. the 51st star on the nation's flag has more support than ever before — even though it is unclear whether the measure has the backing of all 50 Democratic senators, let alone 60 votes in all, for it to pass in the Senate.
It passed the House on Thursday 216-208 along party lines.
Ahead of the vote, Republican lawmakers linked D.C. statehood with a laundry list of progressive policies.
"This is not about a balance of power, this is about more power," said Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C. "This is about government-run health care, a 93 trillion [dollar] Green New Deal, packing the Supreme Court, higher taxes and a bigger, less efficient form of government."
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/22/989119412/house-democrats-pass-bill-to-make-d-c-the-51st-state
The U.S. House of Representatives has once again voted on a bill to grant statehood to Washington, D.C., and enfranchise more than 712,000 Americans, a cause that enjoys unprecedented support but still faces an uphill battle in the U.S. Senate.
"This country was founded on the principles of no taxation without representation and consent of the governed. But D.C. residents are taxed without representation and cannot consent to the laws under which they as American citizens must live," said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District's nonvoting delegate, on the House floor ahead of the vote.
Her statehood bill, H.R. 51, would reduce the size of the federal district and create a new state with the remaining territory with two U.S. senators and a representative, placing residents on equal footing with voters in other states. Statehood advocates contend the cause is also a fight for racial justice. If admitted, Washington, D.C., would be the first state with a plurality of Black residents.
In Ward 6 at Maine Ave SW in front of The Wharf, Emma P. Ward, left, (Ms. Senior District of Columbia 2011) and Joyce Robinson-Paul show their support for D.C. statehood.
"The folks who live in the beacon of democracy that is the nation's capitol don't have a voice," says Ravi Perry, chair of the political science department at Howard University and board member of DC Vote, a statehood advocacy organization.
House Democrats passed Norton's bill last year in a historic vote, but the legislation never reached the GOP-led Senate.
Now, with Democrats controlling the White House and the Senate, the effort to make D.C. the 51st star on the nation's flag has more support than ever before — even though it is unclear whether the measure has the backing of all 50 Democratic senators, let alone 60 votes in all, for it to pass in the Senate.
It passed the House on Thursday 216-208 along party lines.
Ahead of the vote, Republican lawmakers linked D.C. statehood with a laundry list of progressive policies.
"This is not about a balance of power, this is about more power," said Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C. "This is about government-run health care, a 93 trillion [dollar] Green New Deal, packing the Supreme Court, higher taxes and a bigger, less efficient form of government."
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/22/989119412/house-democrats-pass-bill-to-make-d-c-the-51st-state