the U.S. House of representatives voted on Friday for the transformation of the nation’s capital Washington in a separate state, 51-th. However, this law is expected to be blocked in the Senate. President trump also promised to veto the decision of Congress.
the Democrats Controlled the House of representatives passed a bill “H. R. 51”, according to which Washington (DC) will become the 51st state, but has the majority in the Senate Republicans and the White house spoke out against the measure.
the Bill, which is currently sent for approval to the Senate, will create a new state called “Washington, Commonwealth of Douglas,” which will be represented by two senators and one member of Congress. A new state is supposed to be named after the famous American writer, fighter for the rights of the black population of America and leader of the Negro liberation movement Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), who spent the last 17 years of his life in the Metropolitan area. Given the current situation and the fact that in Washington half of the population of African Americans proposed the name seems quite logical.
the state Territory will include the entire current territory of the district of Columbia, with the exception of monuments and Federal buildings such as the White house and the Capitol building.
the mayor of the American capital Muriel Bowser welcomed the adoption of the bill on Twitter: “I was born without representation, but I swear I will not die without representation. Together we will achieve statehood for the district of Columbia, and when we do, we look back at this day and remember everyone who stood with us on the right side of history”.
However, in reality the bill is unlikely to advance further. Controlling the Senate Republicans are not going to support it.
Republicans are concerned that Democrats, creating from the capital of a new state is going to increase its political influence by getting two more democratic senators. The appearance of two new senators from the district of Columbia will reduce the advantage of the Republican party. And Republicans like to remind you that the Constitution specifically assigns this land to the capital, which is not a state.
Now DC is an independent territory that is not included in any of the American States. Washington managed by the municipal Council headed by the mayor, but the U.S. Congress has Supreme authority over the city and can cancel the laws adopted by the Council. So the residents of the capital have fewer rights to self-governance than residents of the States. The County has a non-voting delegate in the House of representatives, but no representatives in the Senate. And prior to the ratification of the 23rd amendment in 1961, residents of the district did not even have the right to vote in the presidential election.
Appeals for the district of Columbia circuit status of the state became louder, when after the death of the African-American George Floyd in city protests erupted. Mayor Bowser spoke for statehood as a method of control of capital over their own police issues.
Washington (D.C.) criticized the use of National guard soldiers and active duty to respond to protests in the city.
President Donald trump said in the may interview to the New York Post that the Republicans would be “very silly” to allow Washington to become a state. And his administration said that trump will impose on it the veto decision.
the defenders of the idea of creating a 51st state say that this is a long overdue change for the city. As stated by the speaker of the house of representatives Nancy Pelosi, Friday’s vote was a “welcome step” that will bring “justice” to people living in the capital: “the fact that people in DC pay taxes, keep our war, risking your life for our democracy. And yet, in this place, they do not have voting rights in the house or Senate about how if we were going to war and how to apply these taxes.”
Republicans say that the provision of the capital status of the state would give too much power to Washington and would cause constitutional problems.
the Administration trump announced the veto on the bill, called “unconstitutional” because of the logistical problems associated with the allocation of land for new staff and providing him with representation in Congress.
a New state will get “excessive power in some respects compared to the other 50 States, according to the White house. So it is unlikely that in the near future the US will be the new subject of the Federation “Commonwealth of Douglas”.
