Supporters of granting the District of Columbia statehood asked members of a Senate panel on Monday to make the American capital the 51st state in the union.
DC residents lack congressional representation, an injustice statehood supporters compared with denying women and African Americans the right to vote as they urged members on the Senate committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs to consider a proposed measure to make DC into the “state of New Columbia”. The few opponents who spoke during the hearing questioned the seriousness of the bill and the constitutionality of allowing DC to become a state.
Although the bill has almost no realistic chance of passing Congress, Senator Tom Carper, the committee’s chair and the bill’s sponsor, said he scheduled the hearing as a way to restart the conversation on DC statehood.
“When it comes to having a vote in Congress, these men and women really don’t count, at least not in the same way. In truth they never have,” said the Delaware Democrat during the hearing. “While they bear the full responsibilities of funding the federal government and dealing with the consequences of the laws it enacts, they do not enjoy the benefits and protection of having voting representation in Congress.”
This is the first time Congress has dealt with the issue in more than two decades. The last time was in November 1993, when the Democrat-led House defeated a statehood bill in a 277-153 vote. But DC’s slow-burning fight to become a state has continued, garnering some notable supporters over the years, including the current president.