UPDATE (06/26/20): With a final vote of 232-180, the House has passed HR 51. The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration.
Residents of Washington, D.C. pay federal taxes, but don’t have Senators or a Representative to vote on issues affecting them. Local laws that voters support can be overruled by Congress without the protective rights of a state. D.C. has a larger population than both Vermont and Wyoming, but less say in our government than either. In 2016, 86% of Washington, D.C. voted for statehood over the unjust status quo.
That’s why D.C.’s nonvoting Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton has introduced H.R. 51, The Washington, D.C. Admission Act to make D.C. America’s 51st state. Similar bills have been introduced before, but H.R. 51 has more sponsors than ever. The National Mall and adjacent buildings housing the federal government will remain federally-owned, while D.C. will become a state with 1 Representative and 2 Senators.