House of Representatives voted in favour to admit Washington DC as 51st state of United States
The legislation passed along the party lines with a vote of 216(D) to 208(R), with no Republican voting in favour.
The bill to make Wahington DC the 51st state will move to an unequivocally divided Senate. It is likely to fail in the upper house because of the probability that there will not be enough “Democratic control” of the US chamber.
For the second time in history, the House Of Representatives has passed the legislation with unprecedented support from the democrats from all over the nation, including the White House. This has enlivened the supporters and advocates of the bill. One of the district’s shadow senator, Paul Strauss told ANI that he was pleased with the strong “showing” of the Democratic unity in the House by today’s vote, but he was disappointed that no republican had joined the bill yet. The non-voting delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents DC in congress, said in a statement, “Today was a historic victory both for DC residents and for the cause of statehood”.
The movement to gain “equality for DC” attracted national attention ahead of the November 2020 elections, with its advocates campaigning on a platform of “Equality for DC voters”. Even though the residents of Washington DC pay federal taxes, the capital by law does not enjoy voting rights in Congress.
Even though US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have voiced their support for the measure along with various celebrities and legislators, but the measure still falling short of votes in the US Senate, where it needs 50 votes but has only 45 sponsors.
The legislation proposes the creation of the 51st state with one representative and two senators. While a tiny percentage of the land would remain as a federal district.
This would include the White House, the US Capitol and the National Mall. Instead of “District of Colombia”, the new state would be known as Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, named after famous abolitionist Douglas Commonwealth, who lived in Washington until 1895.
Strauss further said that the Congress is excessively “rural” and “conservative”, and that it frequently clashed with urban and progressive DC on issues important to its citizens. Statehood not only gives ‘self-determination’ and’ sovereignty’ to the states but also equal representation in congress, Strauss added.
