(CNN) House Democrats approved a bill to admit Washington, DC, as … This approach was pioneered by Tennessee in 1796 and used by Michigan, Iowa, California, Oregon, Kansas, and Alaska to gain admission to the Union. 2. District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser spoke at a news conference about DC statehood on Tuesday.The House of Representatives is poised to make a bit of history on Friday, when, with all-but-unanimous Democratic support, it is expected to approve a bill — The House vote will be merely symbolic, since the bill isn’t going to be brought up in the Republican-controlled Senate. 1. It is viewed as the logical extension of the expansion of voting rights that has occurred over the course of American history. Redevelopment of St. Elizabeths Hospital in SE Washington DC This online training will provide you with talking points and materials to talk about DC Statehood … The new state might enact policies inconsistent with operating the federal government for the benefit of the nation as a whole.Opponents argue that the newly formed state would also be unique in that interests would be dominated by those of the federal government, which would be the state's largest employer. The case for statehood is emblazoned on every District of Columbia license plate: “End Taxation Without Representation.” Susan Rice, a D.C. native who was President Obama’s national security adviser, wrote in If you’re a Washington resident, you probably find that argument convincing: In a 2016 referendum, Clearly, what Rice and many Washingtonians regard as “enduring oppression” is seen very differently by most Americans.It’s not by accident or oversight that the nation’s capital isn’t a state: The Founding Fathers wrote it into the Constitution. She is also the author of several books covering the capital and mid-Atlantic regions. Phoenix Light Rail Facts and Trivia 3. 51 would turn it instead into exactly what the Framers rejected — an island of government buildings, with perhaps a few hundred residents, enveloped within a state.And what about those few hundred residents? For other uses, see Civil rights era and the 23rd Amendment, 1950s–1970sCivil rights era and the 23rd Amendment, 1950s–1970s It was the largest turnout in DC history! Such an outcome would obviously be absurd, yet it would be unavoidable unless the 23rd Amendment were repealed. If both Congress and the Maryland General Assembly agreed, jurisdiction over the District of Columbia could be returned to Maryland or given to Virginia if the state legislature of Virginia agreed, possibly excluding a small tract of land immediately surrounding the A proposal related to retrocession was the "District of Columbia Voting Rights Restoration Act of 2004" (H.R. In 1783, a crowd of disbanded Revolutionary War soldiers angry about not having been paid gathered to protest outside the building where the Continental Congress was meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1980, District voters approved the call of a Pursuant to the 1980 proposed state constitution, the District still selects members of a Since the 1993 vote, bills to grant statehood to the District have been introduced in Congress each year but have not been brought to a vote.For more than 20 years following the 1993 floor vote, there were no congressional hearings on D.C. Statehood.

Rachel Cooper is a travel writer who has lived in the Washington, D.C., area for more than 25 years. 10 Facts about DC Statehood . Those hearings resulted in the first bill, introduced by Sen. Congressional members continued to propose amendments to address the District's lack of representation, with efforts picking up as part of the With District citizens still denied full suffrage, members continued to propose bills to address congressional representation. You'll Want to Know! Members of Congress in support of the bills claim that constitutional concerns should not prohibit the legislation's passage, but rather should be left to the courts.Leading supporters of DC Statehood include most of the organizations that led the civil and voting rights movement of the 1960s. KEY FACTS D.C. residents have long petitioned for statehood, arguing they deserve to have a voice in Congress (D.C. is without two senators and a representative who can vote in the House.)