The Democratic-controlled House approves a bill to make the District of Columbia the 51st state. The legislation now goes to the Republican-controlled Senate, where it faces insurmountable opposition.
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., speaks at a news conference on District of Columbia statehood on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, June 16, 2020, in Washington. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Md. will hold a vote on D.C. statehood on July 26.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the district’s non-voting representative in Congress, sponsored the bill, saying it has both the facts and Constitution on its side. Norton, who has served as D.C. delegate since 1991, said the issue is deeply personal for her and thousands of other city residents who have long been disenfranchised. Her great-grandfather Richard Holmes escaped slavery at a Virginia plantation and “made it as far as D.C., a walk to freedom but not to equal citizenship,″ she said. ”For three generations my family has been denied the rights other Americans take for granted.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., blasted the bill ahead of the House vote. In a Senate speech, he dismissed Washington, D.C., as a city with little more to offer than lobbyists and federal workers. Cotton’s remarks stirred outrage on social media, with many describing the remarks as racist. D.C. has a large African American population and was once known as “Chocolate City,″ although it is no longer majority Black.
Trump said last month that “D.C. will never be a state” because it would likely mean two more Democratic senators. “No, thank you. That’ll never happen,” he said.
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