A bill that aims granting statehood to the District of Columbia was reintroduced to the US Senate on Wednesday, with the support of a record 38 co-sponsors.
Democratic Senator Tom Carper of Delaware is behind the bill titled the Washington DC Admissions Act, along with other Senate Democrats.
“Our nation’s capital is home to more than 700,000 Americans who, despite our nation’s founding mantra — ‘no taxation without representation’ — pay their share of taxes without full voting representation in either chamber of Congress,” said Carper, who initially introduced the bill in 2013, in a statement.
“In fact, despite paying more in federal taxes per capita than citizens of any of the 50 states, D.C. residents have no say in how those taxes are actually spent. This isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue; it’s an American issue because the lack of fair representation for D.C. residents is clearly inconsistent with the values on which this country was founded,” he added.
For years, I have fought alongside @EleanorNorton and @MayorBowser to make #DCStatehood a reality and to give the over 700,000 D.C. residents a voice, vote, and full representation in Congress.
Today, I'm proud to introduce #S51 to make D.C. the 51st state in our Union. pic.twitter.com/PFBHULC6lj
— Senator Tom Carper (@SenatorCarper) January 27, 2021
Carper stressed that it was a duty for every American to stand up for full representation rights of the District’s residents and he is hopeful that “this historic injustice” will be fixed.
In June 2020, the US House of Representatives passed a bill to make DC the 51st state, marking the first time a chamber of Congress has passed such legislation.
DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton reintroduced H.R. 51, the House’s matching legislation, to the House on January 3, the first day of the new Congress, with 202 co-sponsors.
“We are deeply indebted to Senator Carper for his unending efforts for D.C. statehood and his priority in reintroducing the Senate companion to our D.C. statehood bill this year with a record number of original cosponsors. There’s never been a time when statehood for the District was more likely,” Norton said on Wednesday.
On January 6, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser called on Congress to approve the city’s statehood bill within the first 100 days of President Joe Biden, who expressed his support for DC statehood during his presidential campaign.
Mayor Bowser Urges Making DC Statehood Biden’s 100-Day Priority