Washington – The House will vote on a bill on Thursday to admit Washington, DC, as the 51st state, although the measure is likely to fail in the evenly divided Senate.
For the bill’s proponents, the state of DC is a civil rights issue. The district has a population of over 700,000, more than the population of Wyoming or Vermont. But while those two states each have two senators and a representative in the House, DC has no voting representation in Congress. Eleanor Holmes Norton represents DC in Congress as a non-voting delegate.
State advocates also point out that, according to the 2019 IRS data, DC pays more in federal taxes than 21 states and more per capita than any state. The district is also diverse, with a population of 46% black and predominantly non-white. If allowed, it would be the first state with a multitude of black populations.
The legislation, entitled HR 51, would create Washington State, Douglass Commonwealth, named after Frederick Douglass. It would give DC two US senators and a voting representative in the House, like any other state. The bill would also depose the White House, the Capitol, and the National Mall to remain under federal control as the seat of the United States government.
The House passed a DC statehood measure last year with a vote of 232 to 180, but it did not get a vote in the Senate, which was then controlled by Republicans. Although Democrats now hold a majority of 50 seats, most legislation requires 60 votes to pass, and this bill is unlikely to gain the support of 10 Republicans. Senate leader Chuck Schumer has pledged to put the measure to a vote, but a motion to move forward with the legislation would almost certainly fail.
Many supporters of the DC state are urging the Senate to eliminate the filibuster, allowing measures to continue with a simple majority. But this would require the support of all 50 Democrats in the Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the casting vote. Two Democrats say they won’t back it – anything but the prospects for HR 51.
In a press conference promoting HR 51 on Wednesday, Norton expressed confidence that the legislation has a chance in the Senate, saying she “believes the filibuster is coming.”
Speaking at Wednesday’s press conference, House majority leader Steny Hoyer said the Senate will “make a decision to pass judgment” when the legislation comes to the floor.
“We believe in good policy for our country and hope that the Senate will act on behalf of the people,” said Hoyer.
Dr. Ravi Perry, the chairman of Howard University’s political science department and a board member of DC Vote, an advocacy group that supports the state, noted in an interview with CBS News that many of the black families living in the district have been here. for generations. Perry noted that many of Washington’s iconic federal buildings, such as the White House and the Capitol, were built by black workers and slaves – but the district’s descendants of those workers do not enjoy all the privileges represented by those “ beacons. of democracy ‘. . “
“They look at those buildings built by black people, built by slaves, and they see hope,” Perry said of the district’s Black residents. And they know every day when they wake up that they don’t have the same rights [as other Americans]. “
Congress has exclusive jurisdiction over Washington, which means that local legislation, including the DC budget, must be approved by Congress. This can have controversial side effects when DC residents make decisions that are blocked or overturned by Congress. DC voters approved Initiative 71 in 2014, which allows adults to grow, own and gift marijuana. However, Congress has blocked the district from allowing the sale of marijuana by linking a rider to DC’s credit account to prevent the money from being used to legalize or regulate the sale of cannabis.
The idea of a state in DC is gaining in popularity nationwide. A March poll conducted by Data for Progress and the progressive advocacy coalition Democracy for All 2021 Action and first shared with CBS News found that 54% of likely voters think DC should be a state.
Proponents also point to the January 6 attack on the US Capitol as a reason the district should be admitted as a state. Unlike other National Guard units, the DC National Guard is not under local control and can only be mobilized by the White House. Lawmakers have wondered why it took the National Guard so long to act in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6. If Washington DC had gained local control of its National Guard, the Guard might have deployed earlier.
The struggle for statehood in DC is not new – it has been around since the country’s inception, with both sides in charge at different times. But the modern struggle for state is led by democrats. The district is highly democratic – 92% of residents supported President Biden in the 2020 election. Senate Democrats introduced a bill accompanying the House measure in January, which has 38 co-sponsors in the Senate, including Schumer.
The district’s partisan balance is in large part why admitting DC as a state has met with so much opposition from Republicans. If it were admitted as a state, it is very likely that the two senators and a DC representative would be democratic, further putting the balance of Congress in the Democrats’ favor.
Senate leader Mitch McConnell was one of the most outspoken opponents of the DC state, calling it “ full-fledged socialism ” in 2019. In his address at the 2020 Republican National Convention, McConnell argued that Democrats wanted DC to recognize that he called “the swamp itself” to impose their agenda.
“With two more liberal senators, we can’t undo the damage they’ve done,” McConnell said.
House Republicans also oppose admitting DC as a state. At a House Oversight Committee hearing on the bill last month, James Comer said, “The state of DC is an important part of the radical left agenda to reshape America.”
The bill is not expected to get Republican votes in the House. The House Oversight Committee submitted the bill last week with a vote of 25 to 19, all along party lines.
Some Republicans have proposed returning the district to Maryland as a compromise that would theoretically provide the district’s residents with a voting representative in the House, but would not add two new senators. Senator Mitt Romney on Tuesday expressed support for this proposal.
But this solution is not popular with residents of the district and of Maryland. In a statement on retrocession in February, Norton noted that 86% of Washington residents had voted for a state in a 2016 referendum.
“Retrocession would run counter to that referendum vote and the district’s commitment to self-determination,” Norton said. The petition for the referendum was sent to Congress, which took no action against it.
Retrocession is also opposed by representatives of Congress in Maryland.
“The people of DC have made it very clear that they want self-determination. This should be a democracy,” Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen told reporters on Wednesday.
Supporters of the state believe that the district’s partisan balance should not be a factor in the decision. They believe that every American must ensure that 700,000 of his fellow citizens do not have voting representation in Congress, and that they must want a state for the sake of equal rights.
“We’re not talking about giving people rights simply because of their descriptive characteristics, we’re saying they deserve these rights because they’re American too,” Perry said.