House Democrats pass DC statehood bill Friday
Last edited Fri Jun 26, 2020, 05:19 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: CNN
House Democrats approved a bill to admit Washington, DC, as a state on Friday, marking the first time either chamber of Congress has advanced a DC statehood measure.
The bill, introduced by DC's nonvoting House member, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, would shrink the federal capital to a small area encompassing the White House, Capitol building, Supreme Court, and other federal buildings along the National Mall. The rest of the city would become the 51st state, named the Washington, Douglass Commonwealth after abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
The bill passed with a vote of 232-180. Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota was the only Democrat to join Republicans in voting against it. Independent Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan also voted no.
The bill would grant DC two senators and make the existing sole House representative a voting member.
... Democrats in recent weeks have argued the necessity for statehood has never been clearer, after the Trump administration mobilized federal law enforcement to respond to protests about systemic racism in policing. They expressed outrage with the decision to forcibly clear peaceful protesters from outside the White House earlier this month, which was done to allow Trump's photo op at St. John's church.
"Not only do we not have voting senators and our congresswoman not have the right to vote, the whims of the federal government can encroach on our even limited autonomy, and it can do so in ways that are threats to all of the American states and all of the American people," Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said Thursday. "Let's fight back against the cries that we're too liberal or we're too black or there are too many Democrats. Who we elect is our business, and the business of America is to make sure that each person is represented fully in this House and in the Senate of the United States of America."
Proponents of making DC a state also point to the area's large population, which surpasses the populations of Wyoming and Vermont. As of June 2019, DC had more than 705,000 residents, according to estimates from the US Census Bureau.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/politics/dc-statehood-vote-house/index.html
Didn’t get any rethug votes, and of course it won’t pass the Senate, but this is a good point in time to start swaying public opinion. The news of the tear gas, etc., as well as the broadened comprehension of institutional/systemic racism has captured more hearts and minds.
Go Dems!
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